Ultimate Gryffindor
by bjshaw
Summary: Harry is the ultimate Gryffindor. He never runs away and never backs down. His magic does not to allow him to give up in any way, even to the point of refusing to fall unconscious no matter what the cost. Join Ultimate Harry as he and Hermione take on the world and the Heir of Slytherin.
1. Death in the Chamber

Ultimate Gryfindor.Death in the Chamber

"What are you doing?" Panic filled Tom Riddle's voice.

Harry held the tooth of the basilisk he had removed from his arm and looked closely at the diary before stabbing it hard. The blood from his arm dripped onto the diary as he did so and for a second there was hope in Tom's eyes as he felt the blood and magic mix into something he thought he could use. At sixteen Tom was a natural at reading others, influencing them, and other mind arts. He reached out with what was left of his mind and found a link on Harry's head that was opened up by the mixture of death, blood and magic. He was smug as he plunged into the mind of the boy who had pressed home the improvised dagger again.

For half a minute the physical world ceased to exist for both of them and a titanic struggle for mastery of the mind and body of the living took place. Then very quietly, the echo of Tom Riddle faded away without a whimper leaving bits of knowledge scattered about.

As an exhausted Harry lay there dying from basilisk venom, he looked over at Ginny, just coming back to life. A moment later she got up in surprise and he saw she was surprisingly steady on her feet and hoped she would be able to walk back. Fawkes had been able to blind the beast but had received what Harry thought was a fatal bite. He did not know that the phoenix was the only creature who could sometimes survive the venom of a basilisk, although usually not one as old and magical as this one.

"Ginny, I am knackered, but back the way you came Ron is waiting. Go help him." He knew she would be willing to do almost anything for family, she was a Weasley. He also knew that this poison was starting to affect his vision, which probably meant it was getting to his brain. He didn't know that she had seen the wound in his arm from the basilisk.

"Go find Ron back there. He is with a teacher." Harry knew it was a lie of intent not words since Lockhart was scarcely a teacher anymore. He watched as she walked away and relaxed, knowing the poison would now do its work, both of them realizing he was now as good as dead.

He thought about his friends and, if he were to admit it, Hermione the most. She was petrified and fortunately wasn't able to hear all of the dark things he had poured out to her still form in the middle of the night. His fears and frustrations and most intimate secrets he was able to tell to her in quiet whispers of the night. He often snuck back in with his cloak just to be next to her. He wished he could stand the physical contact of holding her like he wanted to. He had wished he was a brave enough a Gryffindor to tell someone the truth about the stripes on his back from the cane, the ache in his bones from multiple fractures untended, the cigar burns in places he didn't show to anyone. But even more damaging, the…

His reverie was interrupted by footsteps. He forced his eyes open to see the return of a lost-looking Ginny. He shrugged to himself before he realized what was wrong. Gathering his energy he forced himself to his feet and turned toward the long walk, picking up the inert body of Fawkes as he did. He didn't remember as Ginny put his other arm over her shoulder and supported him for the walk. They reached the door and he spoke the snake words for open then pushed Ginny through the opening and let the door close behind her, separating them with a door no one else could open except Voldemort. After she left he sagged to the cold floor still clutching the almost dead phoenix. They made eye contact and he felt a brief connection. Harry poured some of his own strength to her along with the message, 'you were brilliant Fawkes.' He thought one of them should live and Fawkes looked much better than he. He didn't notice the improvement in the bedraggled magical bird only moments later, even though it still was not strong enough to use its magical healing tears for Harry. His thoughts went back to Hermione. She would cry if he died down here and he hated to see Hermione cry. He couldn't see the harsh expression of determination cross his battered face as he decided he wasn't going to let her down without a fight. That fight was to live.

Something about the air bothered him as he took his last breath as 'Harry Potter the-boy-who-was-cursed.' He had never lost consciousness before and didn't plan to start now. His numerous beatings had trained him to believe that to lose sight of your surroundings was to die. This was instinctive for him and he was unsure where such thoughts came from. He was not familiar with Pavlov and the training that went with it, nor how such a simple thing like knowing that losing control would be a death sentence while living with his uncle, would change his very subconscious. Still aware, he opened his eyes to a red mist that was choking him almost to death. He wasn't dead yet. He had a wand. He waved it in a comforting pattern that felt right he didn't really understand, somehow gleaning a few of the memories of healing spells Tom had learned. The mist grew more solid like he was inside a blood filled pool. Somehow he had tied his magic internally to the wild magic that was intent on healing him. After another few seconds he could no longer see the rest of the room.

"Lumos," he called out to the redness. He was surprised to see a strong brightening in the mist and even more surprised that he actually felt better for a brief instant. Through the pain he felt the poison burning in his body as his heart and lungs struggled to continue functioning. His eyes were long burned out by the poison. He could now feel each heartbeat. _Breath, thump__** one **__thump __**one **__thump __**one tw**__ thump__** one two**__ thump __**one two th**__ thump __**one two three f**__, breath._

Upstairs in the headmaster's office were many instruments tuned or blood bound specifically to Harry Potter including a device that measured his very life. It was a simple device and after three seconds with no heartbeat the device expired signaling that Harry too, was dead. The device had been built with the best medical advice known, after all everyone knew a wizard was considered dead after three seconds without a heartbeat, according to St. Mungos. The device silently died, leaving the stain of dark blood magic where it had resided.

At the same time Harry was concentrating hard and pushed himself to have his body still work. His entire will stared into the depths of his heart forcing it to continue. He wanted to see Hermione again and she would cry if he didn't make it. The thought to give up never crossed his mind. The damage to his body continued as his kidneys and lymphatic systems shutdown along with complete digestive system failure. All of these messages came to his tired brain where he was now perched in the midst of the turmoil, but he ignored the other signals for the moment. He concentrated for a second and pushed with the few reserves he had left, and received one heartbeat. He pushed again as soon as he could and got another. He pushed once more as hard as he could and the thumping started metering beats at one per 10 seconds. Soon his entire world focused on the frequency of the thumping sounds. After a very long time he noticed the thumps getting stronger and he willed them to get closer together.

Now he turned his attention to the screaming pain in the rest of his body. Immediately the system of breathing was next as he followed the same pattern he had with his heart and carefully willed it to begin working again, not noticing the violent swirling of magic surrounding him and heating chamber significantly. He coughed hard for about a minute as his body ejected the fluid that had settled deep in his lungs. He could do no more now and he rested, blind to the world and time. An hour later he gently pushed his magic into the other systems of his body and let them start healing and working as much as possible. It was another long rest before he awoke from his sleep.

He reached out and tried to hear something. His magic turned up his hearing far beyond what any natural creature could fathom. He could hear a voice. He didn't know it but waves of raw magic were still pouring from him causing an echo throughout the castle, with unusual consequences for his best friend.

"Well Miss Granger, other than needing dusting, you are the same as always. I don't envy anyone the job of telling you the one you love is dead." Her tone was as though reflectively talking to herself, which told Harry that Hermione must still be paralyzed.

"Mister Creevey, you look quite the same as always, as with Miss Clearwater and both of you may go."

"Miss Weasley," her voice was internally focused again and he heard a medical diagnostic spell surprised that he somehow knew what it was supposed to do.

Madam Pomfrey had sounded closest when speaking about Hermione. His hearing told him that his presence was close to that spot near her bed where he had waited with her.

Suddenly he heard a violent wail and weeping following.

"Miss Weasley, be calm. You did the right thing in leaving him there. There is nothing anyone could have done for him."

The wailing continued. "Here drink this calming draught."

"I don't want a calming draught I don't want a potion to forget and I don't want to be in this bed when I am not hurt and his body is still down there. IT HAS BEEN FOUR DAYS. DO SOMETHING. My Harry is alone," she whimpered again.

Harry heard the stunner and Ginny was quiet again. It sounded like someone was pouring a potion down her even against her wishes. When did he become 'her Harry?' he wondered.

He could sense everyone in the room. He reached out for where he thought he felt Hermione. She should already be up. He concentrated on relaxation her condition and felt her body follow his will. After a moment where he couldn't tell if anything further was happening, he spoke into the darkness.

"Hermione, come back to me," his voice was cracked.

Poppy Pomfrey had seen many strange and wonderful things in her long career where she had changed from an emergency healer finally to come to a school to help children that she always loved. So when she turned with the petrification restorative to Hermione and saw that same petrified student standing in the open area next to her bed she didn't panic.

"Miss Granger?" her voice was tentative. She could tell that the girl was not listening and her eyes were unfocused. With a serene smile on her face she reached out to something in the air with a tentative touch.

"Harry?" the girl said in a tender voice.

"Miss Granger," her voice finally reached Hermione, "Harry is not here at present. Please return to your bed. You should not be able to stand, or do anything else at the moment. How are you even breathing?"

She dutifully sat on her bed and the nurse cast spells to determine how a completely petrified student was suddenly moving around with no outside influence. As she was checking she saw the light in the girl's eyes come back and she focused on her healer.

"Where's Harry?" The nurse didn't answer. "Where's Harry!" her voice had a tremulous edge to it now and the room began to hum.

"Calm yourself Miss Granger."

She looked at the panic stricken face of Madam Pomfrey. With a supreme effort Hermione forced her feelings back. "I need to talk to the headmaster immediately. The monster is a basilisk and is moving through the pipes to key parts of the castle. Everyone should be using mirrors to look around the corners of hallways and especially…"

"I will get the headmaster, Miss Granger." Ginny had not had any memory of what the monster was nor whether it was really dead, just that Harry had been killed by it.

It was only a minute later that the oddly dressed headmaster entered.

"Miss Granger, it is good to see you up and about," he looked at the nurse with a question in his eyes.

"I don't know professor. She needs to stay here for more checking but seemed quite insistent that she speak with you."

"Professor," Hermione avoided his gaze, trying to still the hurt she had about where Harry was and how much danger he was in and if she had sent him to his death. "The monster is a basilisk and it petrifies when seen through a reflection or any translucent material. Obviously it will kill if you get a direct blast of its gaze. It has been traveling from place to place in the castle through the large plumbing pipes, which is why the entrance is hard to find, there are probably more than one. Everyone will have to check corners and hallways using a mirror so the worst they can get is paralyzed. It has deadly venom as well, however, so people should go in groups with..."

"Excellent reasoning Miss Granger," the headmaster's eyes twinkled as he cut her off, but she didn't see as she wasn't looking. "I will handle the arrangements." Without another word to her he left.

Madam Pomfrey immediately gave Hermione the new batch of the petrification removal potion that had healed the other students, having waited because she didn't want to tell her about Harry. Unfortunately the potion only worked partially and her skin remained hard and grey causing her constant pain. For some reason she was not completely cured.

She didn't hear the Headmaster tell the nurse to 'allow no one to know that Miss Granger is awake.' There were no visitors the rest of that day and in the afternoon Ginny awoke and was released at dinnertime without seeing her.

The next day Hermione showed up for breakfast surprising everyone, even Poppy.

"Miss Granger, you should not be here." The nurse immediately left her chair and went over to Hermione.

"I am quite alright and I need sustenance," was the cool reply. A tear streaked Ginny caught her eye but as she was asleep, neither spoke to the other. Hermione looked as if she was still partly petrified. Her expression was hard and unreadable and her skin still had a decidedly gray tinge to it. A sea of quiet surrounded her and as she walked about her magic seemed to oppress anyone who was near, with the result of keeping everyone away. Throughout the day she went to her classes and only answered teacher's questions directed to her.

She had heard everyone talking about how Harry must now be dead, but she was sure she had not only felt his presence but actually talked to him. Ginny hadn't been sure if the creature was dead or simply injured so no one at this time was willing to go into the chamber, even if they could find it. For some reason Ginny's memory on its location was blank. It was the fifth day since those events and somehow Ron could not even begin to remember where the entrance to the chamber of secrets was, having caught just a touch of the obliviate from the defense professor, Lockhart, who was in the hospital and would likely never come out again.

Harry had been bitten by a basilisk, Hermione now knew that much, and was informed that its venom was always fatal unless the person received only the smallest dose and took the emergency anti-venom, regenerate, blood restoration, and pepper-up potions within a few minutes. For some reason Ron was also avoiding her. She hadn't heard his comments about how freaky she looked with her grey skin and slow stiff movements.

She wandered into the great hall for dinner alone, still numb emotionally and physically, except for the constant pain of her skin. She sat across from the twins next to Angelina and had just started eating mechanically when she was interrupted.

"What's the matter mudblood," Malfoy had walked over from the Slytherin table. "Miss your boyfriend that would rather kill himself than stay with you? I hear he was kissing snakes instead…"

"No!" came a harsh voice from the far end of the room. Every head turned to see Harry Potter walking with careful slowness into the Great Hall. His eyes were almost black holes that showed only redness where the whites should be. There was dried blood at the corners and dried trickle marks of blood down his face. Most of his torso had bloody slashes on it and his right arm was almost completely black from the effect of the venom. There were additional red trails from both ears running down his neck, and he was covered in basilisk blood and gore. Various bruises and cuts from the violent fight adorned his face and upper body. The gasps around the hall at his condition were punctuated by several students getting violently ill. The prefects were required to clean up after them, at least those able to keep their own meals safely put.

"I would charge hell itself for Hermione." Harry's voice cracked somewhat. Now making such a statement while sipping tea by the fireplace would be laughable, but stating such sentiments while in his condition instantly meant that no one would be arguing with his resolve. "But now…" his head inclined toward where the Gryffindor table was. "Right now I need something to eat, drink, and a bit of a rest."

In a sudden jerk of motion Hermione was on her feet grabbing a plate of food and putting her drink on the edge of the plate. Her demeanor was so electrified that no one else moved, watching her pushing through her stiffness to help. She glanced at the nurse and made eye contact with the twins. With a toss of her head indicating they move toward Harry, who was barely on his feet.

Leaving their food all three people indicated, rushed to do her bidding, the twins to help take Harry to the hospital wing as she was to feed him bits from her plate. This finally started people speaking again and the gasps and expressions of surprise were quite loud.

"But you're dead," the surprised Dumbledore stood and said much louder than intended. Everyone in the hall heard him.

"Feels like it," Harry's voice was rough but full of mirth.

"Harry, you need to let me check…" the Headmaster began, but the boy just shook his head. Hermione had reached him and she grabbed his arm and squeezed for a second. She was looking at his face and noticed his grim expression when the headmaster spoke of getting involved. She immediately turned and faced him with a furious expression on her face.

"Professor, Harry needs medical treatment. Now!" her bracing of the headmaster had the entire school taking a deep breath as she appeared ready to do battle. Her magic pushed waves through the air like a sea and it was just moments from crashing around them all, possibly doing real damage.

"Yes, but…"

"I haven't eaten in five days, headmaster. I doubt I will be hard to find in the infirmary but I am going to have to decline anything further at this time, including discussions." Harry put a hand on Hermione's arm.

Under his breath he muttered "Don't worry. I'm fine, Hermione."

The twins, having gotten the message from Hermione to help, nearly carried him to the hospital. While Madam Pomfrey was casting spells even as they walked. She put him in a bed and began pulling Hermione away. Immediately the room started to shake and Harry, not really aware of his surroundings but still missing her presence reached out toward her retreating form. Hermione pulled away and took his hand and only then did the small earthquake cease.

She smiled, "I guess I will stay for a bit, Madam Pomfrey. After all it is a large part of healing to have the patient in the right frame of mind toward the healing isn't it?"

"Yes, Miss Granger." The nurse sounded somewhat put out but didn't press the matter. She admitted to herself that she was quite fond of these two students. Their dedication to each other when hurt was surprising from children their ages.

"She stays," Harry said quietly, his lucidity returning.

The nurse began the healing spells. There were signs of heart failure, respiratory failure, poison, concussion, detached retina, and other serious injuries not to mention the long list of bones that were just partially to healed. Soon she was frantically working on a much more severely injured patient than she thought capable of wandering about a castle.

"How are you even alive?" the nurse exclaimed shaking her head and not receiving any answer. Muttering under her breath Hermione only caught a few phrases like 'total cardio arrest,' 'pneumatic shock,' and even 'protracted nutrient deficit,' she was in a state.

After a brief whispered conversation with Hermione, Harry took a dreamless sleep potion to rest better. Hermione stayed close and they barely averted another room shakeup when she skipped out to the loo for a minute. The mediwitch spent long hours through the night using various healing spells on the sleeping lad and both were exhausted come morning. For some reason the dreamless sleep potion had barely any effect on Harry, but he did manage to sleep somewhat beginning in the early hours.

Harry woke early and pawed at his face.

"Stop," Hermione said in a sleepy voice. He had bandages across his eyes and his right arm was wrapped completely to the shoulder. His skin was a better color she decided, now that it was slightly more normal than her own grayness.

"How are you feeling this morning?" her voice was still laced with concern.

"I am fine, Hermione. How are you holding up? I understand I was dead yesterday," there was mirth in his voice but he didn't laugh. "I expected you to be in a right state."

"It is simple. I never believed them. Right after I woke up I heard you calling me Harry. At least I think I did."

"I tried to talk to you," he reached out with his good hand. "You are the most important person in the world to me, Hermione." There was a long silence before Harry continued. "Let's talk about it later, when I can see… better. I want to see your face," he finished wistfully.

"What happened down there Harry?" her voice was low so even the nurse a dozen feet away couldn't hear it.

"I have had days of just thinking. I will tell you all of it, but for now I want you to do something for me. I killed it, the basilisk, but it got me. I can't tell you all the details yet because there are a lot of things that happened and I don't understand most of them. It will take me some time to get my head straight and I don't need the headmaster to… I guess I don't want to hear him telling me how stupid I was since I already know," his voice was getting tired. He asked her for some water before he lay back resting.

She stayed with him until almost noon before he let her go without complaint. At the lunch table there was a near riot of conversation taking place. Hermione strode into the great hall clearly determined and looked to be on a mission, her hand slightly behind her holding a long paper wrapped bundle. She went straight to the head table, Harry's blood still showing on her face and collar from helping with the changing of his bandages, he wasn't a very good patient. Hermione held the bundle up and watched it unroll until it dropped the sword of Gryffindor by the headmaster's plate right next to the potatoes. Turning, she addressed the noisy room in a tired voice.

"The creature in the Chamber of Secrets, a basilisk, is dead by Harry's hand with the assistance of the phoenix Fawkes. Harry is half dead and quite tired, leave him alone." Her voice was brittle but controlled. "The chamber was opened by someone who was controlled by a dark magic item that has since been destroyed and it is not their fault. I will answer no other questions at this time."

She didn't stay for the ensuing near riot.


	2. Malfoy in Trouble

Malfoy in Trouble

It was early in the next morning when Harry awoke with the smell of the hospital and another familiar scent. "Hi Hermione," there was a weary cheer in his voice.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I like the smell of your hair," he smiled and she melted.

"Thanks Harry," she said quietly. "You know I could hear quite fine during the time I was petrified, I hope you aren't mad at me for knowing your secrets, but I can tell you they are completely safe with me." He sat bolt upright, painfully, the fear in his face evident even through the bandages.

"I don't think of you any differently, Harry, except it makes me think of you as even more brave." She saw how hurt he was even without her being able to see his eyes, and she knew he was crying inside. He had exposed his heart to someone for the first time and she had to take good care of it. She knew instinctively that if she didn't, he would never open up to anyone else again. "You are still my best friend, hopefully more someday." She was so close he could feel her breath on his cheek.

"I was thinking that perhaps earlier rather than later. There's not much difference between a good friend and a girlfriend except physical contact, right?" Harry's quiet statement was quite unlike the carefree comments that he typically threw about.

"This is probably not the best time to…"

With unerring accuracy Harry placed a finger from his less injured hand on her lips. "Hermione, I feel very strongly for you. I don't want anything to get in the way of our friendship. I want to become a boy that you would be proud of, just for you. Would you at least be willing to go out with me before you try someone else? Will you give me a chance?"

"Sure Harry, I don't think that is anytime soon, but I will keep you first in my books."

"I think I like being first in your books very much." Not knowing what he was thinking, she pondered for a minute then leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. His responding smile warmed her as she contemplated the future. She was not stupid. There were already several very good looking girls that wanted to catch Harry Potter.

"Oh, Hermione?" his tone made it sound like a question.

She looked back at him but didn't answer.

"Could we keep the fact that I asked you out just between us? I think it could cause problems if we were too public about things and quite honestly I hate having anyone else…" he paused while searching for the right word, "meddling."

"Sure Harry," she smiled to herself. He obviously was very serious about this. Now she just had to figure out her own feelings … and even though she wasn't aware of it, her hormones.

Hermione spent the next half day with Madam Pomfrey as she tried everything she knew to ease the hardness and pain in her skin and muscles, but nothing helped.

"We will keep working on it. I hope it goes away over time as your body repairs itself naturally," the healer finally added. The girl was not looking forward to her parents seeing this latest problem. She had been very careful not to tell them too many details about certain dangerous things at her school. She didn't lie, but put the best face on it she could.

The next week, they spent nearly every waking minute together, either revising for exams or Harry going over the notes he had taken for her during classes. He thought he did fairly well but Hermione was clearly in a state at not having the last few weeks to study. She worried about every subject and finally Harry got up and led her out into the cold rainy afternoon, not even bothering to get a heavy cloak.

"Harry, you'll freeze," she complained gently.

"I am fine," he replied. "I did notice that you didn't mention anything about yourself. Exactly what is going on with your skin? I hope you don't mind me asking."

She thought for a minute before answering. "I did not heal properly after I was …" she still found it hard to face the flash of pain and terror she had felt. When she saw the basilisk, she had thought she was going to die, not sure if the mirror would work because it reflected back too well or perhaps she had miscalculated. She was suddenly aware of a firm grip on her shoulder. There was no hint of any boyfriend or romantic motives. Harry was just a friend trying to help her through her emotions. It dawned on her that this was the first time she had ever seen Harry show affection to anyone physically.

She looked over at him, noticing the slightly awkward way he was holding her. The expression on his face was pure Harry though, concern for his friend.

"I still get…" she began, "well it was pretty scary. I guess you know all about it, you stood right up to the thing. Okay, about my problem. It seems that the petrification settled more deeply on me than others, for some reason. No one knows why. For that matter no one has ever lived through a partial paralyzation before. So Madam Pomfrey said she hoped it will go away over time. Get my body to rebuild or some such." Harry noticed that she didn't sound convinced.

"We'll get through it," he said with an implacable certainty that made her look at him again.

"What can you do?"

"I don't know, yet. But I won't live with you hurting like this."

She looked at him strangely. She hadn't mentioned her pain to him at all.

"Who told you it hurt?" her voice was almost accusing now and she dropped his arm and backed up. There were things that some girls discussed with the nurse that were no one else's business. She immediately regretted her tone, but she was hurt that someone had been telling tales about her and she didn't even know.

"I can tell that you are hurting, Hermione, no one said anything. I could see that it hurt when you were petrified. Through the fear in your expression, I could still see the pain. I won't stand by while you are hurting, Hermione," he said while looking directly at her. The strength of his belief was plain. He would do anything to keep her safe. She felt small for her accusing tone of voice toward him earlier and she blushed as she realized just how protective he was of her well-being, the color looking odd on her gray skin.

"Back to the problem, Hermione, it sounds like you aren't expecting any more help from the nurse. But you are hiding how much it hurts just like you are hiding how much it still affects your skin. His eyes held her for a moment and she decided to be completely honest with him.

"It hurts all the time, Harry; every part of my skin, even inside my mouth. I use lotions and makeup to make it so I look normal, but I am not." She left off the part where it was so bad that she doubted she would be able to have a boyfriend. No one wanted to be with someone whose touch felt like cold stone.

"I like you just as you are, Hermione. You should be willing to remember that I want you to be my girl and to me just the way you are is perfect. I want someday for a family, if we can survive the journey, it could possibly be that we are by each other's side when we are starting to look for someone to marry." He swallowed nervously at his own boldness. He hadn't intended to tell her that she figured in his dreams about a future family.

She smiled at him and stepped closer to him again. "A lot will happen before that is on our mind, and I do like you Harry, if that is what you are asking."

"Yes," Harry responded, smiling more because she willingly closed the gap between them. He looked nervously at her lips, then back into her eyes. She was very close.

"You are far more than just a brilliant friend, Hermione. You are the best person I know. No matter what, let's be sure to stay friends."

"Okay," she responded, lost in his intent gaze.

Once back inside, Harry cast a few drying charms on their clothes and they loosened their ties and fluffed their robes to help the charms work.

"When did you learn that, Harry? I don't recall seeing you use any household charms before."

He shrugged. "I'd like to hold that question for just a bit, if at all possible. I am not trying to be difficult and I promise to tell you the boring details soon," he grinned and she found she couldn't be angry at him at the moment.

A quick turn down the corridor and they found themselves looking at Draco Malfoy and his two stooges.

"Hey Potty and the Mudblood, at least you remembered to put your clothes back on before you came inside." Harry noticed that Hermione tensed at that comment.

"Well, it was a great swim, the lake isn't too bad but get out of the water and the wind gets you." Harry smirked at all four of their gaped mouths.

"Better watch it, Potter, or you are likely to get hurt." Draco tried to sound intimidating.

"I guess I will be careful not to stub my toe then," Harry answered.

"You little bastard, I am going to take you down and the little bitch will get a good going over too. Now that you broke her in, she won't be much fun though. So aren't you buggering her so you don't get her pregnant? You wouldn't want another one of those things around."

Harry simply tapped Hermione's arm and walked away, completely ignoring the now fuming Malfoy. He was ready for the curse when it came, however, and turned to block it from hitting Hermione.

"Mister Potter!" McGonagall's voice came from the end of the corridor.

"Yes, professor?" Harry's voice sounded completely neutral.

"That will be twenty points from Gryffindor for fighting in the halls."

"Professor, is having a wand out considered fighting? Or blocking unfriendly spells?" Harry still kept a lock on his emotions.

"That will be enough or you will also have detention tomorrow for your attitude," the stern professor's lips were drawn into a thin line.

'Of course, professor, will there be anything else?" Harry stood perfectly still as tense as a violin string but had no discernible expression or extra emphasis in his tone of voice.

"No, Mister Potter. That will be all." Harry pulled a confused and angry Hermione back to their common room.

"What was that about?" Hermione finally asked.

"It is just our good professor standing in for Professor Snape, I would guess. Haven't you noticed that I don't respond to his barbs in class anymore? I believe the headmaster has ordered the teachers to soften me up." Harry had trouble keeping the bitterness out of his voice.

"He wouldn't… but professor McGonagall…" Hermione sputtered. She kept reviewing the facts. Harry hadn't even insulted Malfoy or cast a spell, he had somehow blocked with his wand. The professor had listened to nothing he was going to say.

"Hermione? How is your French?"

"Um I took several years in school and use it on vacation quite often. Why?"

"I think it should become a priority to be able to speak, read, and write in French. I need to work on a different language, but don't want to tip my hand to the professors too early. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Harry. It would help if I knew what changed. Why are you acting so strangely?" Hermione chewed her lip while trying to fathom the mystery that was Harry Potter.

"I can't say anything until later, but you really need to trust me. Also, I would like to see if I can help with your skin condition, but it will have to be done away from here hopefully in the privacy of your own home."

"But won't you get in trouble for using magic outside of school?"

"I don't think it is a recognizable spell, Hermione, and it doesn't use my wand either. It is more like a natural ability. Please don't talk to ANYONE about it."

"Not even Ron?"

"Especially not Ron, I am not sure how our friendship will survive what I believe is really going on. Let's just say I have come into a great deal of information recently that I cannot comment on, and I don't plan to sit idly by and see our lives be ruined by not taking some kind of direct action. I really, really want you there with me on this. For the completely selfish reason that I value your friendship more than any other; and the fact that I believe it will be at the cost of too much of your own future if we don't take some drastic measures soon."

The next day in the great hall, Harry quietly walked over to the Slytherin table and had a word with Draco Malfoy. No one else heard what he said, but Draco smiled an evil grin and nodded as Harry left.

Harry took Hermione aside that afternoon and spent a few hours going over dueling spells and strategies, especially against multiple targets. She was surprised when he asked if she could take on Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson at the same time. She nodded a bit curiously. She guessed it was in case they had another confrontation in the hallways.

At dinner that evening, Harry kept looking around, as if waiting for something. Hermione had gotten a bit better about asking, since he seemed to tell her anything that he could right off, but couldn't be budged if it was a topic he wasn't ready to share about yet. He had promised to tell her all about everything soon.

Finally an auror entered the great hall and went over to the Slytherin table. Harry didn't look like he noticed, but Hermione saw that he stopped looking around. He was definitely up to something.

Soon the auror headed to the head table, talking to several teachers before speaking to the headmaster, who finally stood.

"Attention, please. The Malfoy family has decided to donate new practice brooms to the school on behalf of their family. In exchange they have requested that Draco be presented an opportunity to demonstrate his dueling ability to the students and faculty. Who would like to volunteer to assist Mister Malfoy in this demonstration?"

"But he's only a second year," came the comment from a surprised Professor Sprout.

"This is for my family honor," Draco said simply, smirking.

Slowly, Harry Potter stood. It was obvious to the auror and everyone else in the hall that Harry was in no wise a friend to Draco Malfoy.

"You know, Malfoy, I might do you a favor," Harry said in a slow drawling tone that was a fair imitation of the Malfoy sneering tone.

"What's that Potter? Take your worthless skin to the next country?" Malfoy taunted.

"While that may be a good plan, I was thinking about what your family honor should mean here. I guess your dear father wants you able to handle yourself in a fight. Well a textbook duel isn't really a fight. I mean two people standing there facing each other while someone counts off doesn't seem very realistic.

"Why don't you get your friends Crabbe and Goyle to watch your back and I will take the lot."

"Potter, you are going down hard." This was a pureblood duel for honor, and no one could interfere with family matters. Draco motioned the other two to come out in the open area where the auror was already building some shields for the protection of the crowd.

"Hey Malfoy, if you need someone up there who can think, you better get Miss Parkinson to join. Then I'll get a second and we will be evenly matched." At Harry's words Pansy came up to talk to him. A moment later most of those in the hall heard her loud whisper, 'this sounds like a setup.'

"I choose Hermione Granger as my second," Harry announced loudly. The Slytherin table was suddenly abuzz with talk as Harry made Hermione equal in status to everyone else in the duel. Normally a muggle born wouldn't be allowed to duel a pureblood, but Malfoy really wanted a chance to mess up Granger, so he agreed.

A moment later, Pansy stood with the others, hoping to protect Draco from getting hurt. Meanwhile Hermione and Harry were having a whispered discussion on strategy.

"Hermione, just take down the bookends first, then everything will work out fine. I will shield you for the first little bit. Move back and forth without a predictable pattern and we're almost guaranteed to win," she nodded nervously at this. He hadn't mentioned any specific spells to use, but since they had been practicing combat spells this afternoon for just such an occasion, she too thought Draco had been set up.

The duel was getting ready to begin when Harry carefully stepped just in front of Hermione and leaned in towards his opponents, "Good luck," he said cheerily.

"Don't you think, since your auror friend set this up, that we should have a more impartial judge? Duel Master Flitwick, would you be willing to do the honors?"

"Why not Professor Snape?" Draco countered.

"Well, I would say because Professor Snape has hated me from before my very first class with him, or that he is known to favor you, or that he is head of your house and biased; but I think I will just pass on that suggestion." Harry knew he was laying it on thick, but didn't care.

"Would I be acceptable to the majority of the participants?" the small professor looked at each of the duelists and received a nod in return.

After they moved to the center, Harry leaned over and whispered, "Hermione, when I say 'eyes,' close your eyes immediately. You will know when it is safe to reopen them."

"Begin," Flitwick called.

Harry stood as Hermione and the other four traded spells. Her practice from earlier was fresh in her mind she held her own for a minute before Harry began to speak.

"I guess the purebloods aren't as good as everyone thinks. Well that and Hermione is just brilliant of course. Feast your EYES on this, Malfoy," Harry knew he had emphasized the words just enough that there was no way Hermione missed it. She just barely heard his whispered spell from right next to him.

"Lumos maxima." The entire hall lit up with a brilliant display of light so bright it hurt through her closed eyelids.

"Nox extrudo." Suddenly it was completely dark, at least by comparison, as even the candles were doused. The only light was coming from the small moon reflection through the windows. She heard Harry cast the levitation spell. He had shown her earlier that all you had to do was put your wand between the spell and your body to break it. It worked for other spells too, which was how he had taught her to block.

"Take the rest, Hermione," Harry said.

While Draco screamed as he swung from the levitation spell and Harry was waving his wand like a choir conductor, obviously controlling the action. Several professors relit the lights while the others gaped, Hermione quickly used the petrification spell and took down the two bodyguards leaving just Pansy to duel. They exchanged spells for a moment before Pansy was disarmed.

"Let me explain something to the house of Malfoy, and everyone else in hearing. Mr. Malfoy here wanted to have a go at Hermione and I believe he would have tried soon without this duel. She is my best friend. If any of you try to attack Hermione, you will get the full brunt of Harry Potter's wrath. Don't push me." Harry flipped his wand and a screaming Draco went flying through the air before he was again caught six feet above the ground, head down. Harry then let the spell go and a whimpering Malfoy crashed almost face first into the floor, while everyone else winced at the crunch. Only a few professors realized there was a very mild cushioning charm on the floor at the impact.

Harry silently walked up to the boy's nearly unconscious form.

"I don't like killing," he said quietly enough so only the dozen closest could hear him. Naturally everyone in the hall heard about it within the hour. For some reason Harry looked to the staff table where the Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape both looked on in shock. Neither was inclined to share his thoughts, however.

Harry was surprised when he received a call to the headmaster's office only by how long it had taken to get the invitation. He thought about what he was going to say, he then realized something. It didn't matter what he said because there was nothing that the headmaster could do for him, therefore he only needed to answer questions for school related issues.

"Harry, my boy, it is good to see you so well," Albus Dumbledore smiled his grandfatherly smile.

"Hello headmaster," Harry said quietly. He felt odd at the look in the headmaster's eyes as he stared back. Suddenly the recent kiss he got from Hermione came to mind. Not sure what was going on, Harry looked over to distract himself and get a moment to think. Fawkes was sitting there quietly.

"May I thank your phoenix, sir?" Dumbledore was especially glad he had a phoenix as a friend and let everyone he could see him. They didn't need to know that the bird didn't really respond to the headmaster much more than anyone else.

"By all means," he said. "Phoenix are marvelous creatures. They only work for the light, you know."

As Harry made his way to look at Fawkes, their eyes met and he fought down a start. Something undefinable passed between them creating a connection and he felt the need to not mention it to the headmaster. Harry was also thinking it strange how his thoughts had suddenly changed a moment ago when he looked into the headmaster's eyes. At the sudden impulse, probably originating from the phoenix, Harry thought that his mind was being read through that eye connection. If it were true, then he had given away his relationship with Hermione. The game of words had just become more difficult.

"How is Miss Granger? You two seem to be getting close." Albus could scarcely help but brag about his own knowledge. He was sure he had given nothing away really, the boy wasn't all that smart and it would cement his position as the 'all knowing' confidant and grandfather to Harry.

"I believe I would like to look for a new place to stay," Harry said. He knew that if he was right, then Dumbledore knew how much abuse he put up with at the Dursley's. Harry thought a second and looked directly back into the headmaster's eyes. He was not surprised when unbidden memories of being hit and left almost dead came instantly to mind. Then there was the painful memory of being tied down by Vernon for entertainment of him and a work buddy. He had trouble speaking or walking for a week after that one." Harry instantly turned his eyes a bit away, noticing the clenched jaw for a moment from the headmaster, a sure sign he had seen that little memory.

"Harry, there are protections at Privet Drive that keep you safe from any Death Eaters or any of Voldemort's former colleagues. This alone is reason enough to stay. They are your family after all." Harry felt a small rush of warmth for the Dursley's giving him a place to stay. He looked toward the wall after that, realizing that the headmaster seemed capable of not only reading his thoughts, but manipulating them as well as long as they were in direct eye contact.

"So you think I still need protection?" Harry thought about the abuse at the Dursley's to put the proper tone of fear and loathing in his voice for this conversation. He had not been first selected to go into Slytherin house first without reason.

"Yes, unfortunately, my boy, there are still those that would wish you harm."

"But why me, professor?"

"You are responsible for his downfall, Harry. Something destroyed his body that night and you were part of that," the headmaster was frustrated that the boy wasn't looking him in the eye, but thought he had enough to control the boy anyway. "You are important, my boy."

"So he is not dead and I am important for the future." Going back to the previous subject, Harry started. "You must know it is a poor place to be raised, sir. Why couldn't I go to some wizard family? I think an orphanage would be better than living where people hate me." Harry kept himself as calm as possible.

"You needed a normal life, Harry. Not to live as a celebrity for something that happened when you were little." Albus was proud of being able to increase Harry's importance while at the same time belittling him to keep him humble and compliant.

"So you don't really trust me, do you?" Harry said in a dejected tone.

"Of c…" Albus suddenly realized the trap that came with that statement.

"Why did Voldemort want me dead? I was just a toddler." Harry hoped the quick change would have the headmaster give something away.

"Harry, I don't think this is a discussion you are ready for. Perhaps when you are older," he said smiling to himself.

"I see. Well shall we to business then?" Harry's sudden changes of direction and obvious intelligence in the conversation had Dumbledore quite concerned. He needed to be kept under control.

Just then the door opened and Lucius Malfoy came barging in.

"I see that the day after you are back my son has already been injured, headmaster."

"Oh, that was his own doing," Harry interjected.

Lucius suddenly seemed to realize that Harry was there.

"You! I will see the end of you, make no mistake about that." Mister Malfoy was practically spitting.

"Perhaps we should discuss the reason you are here, Lucius." Dumbledore still carried the importance necessary to get the elder Malfoy's attention.

"I want to say that I am appalled at your lack of care for your students, headmaster. I will be bringing this up at the next governor's meeting." Without another word, but with a sneer in Harry's direction he turned and left. Only then did Harry see Dobby, the troublesome house-elf behind him.

Harry rushed out the door then stopped for a moment to remove a sock and place it in the diary he had brought because he was sure the headmaster would want it. Evidently his plan had thrown the old teacher off more than expected.

"Mister Malfoy, I believe you dropped this." Harry came up behind him holding out the diary.

"I don't know what you mean," the older wizard was suddenly wary.

"You dropped it in Ginny Weasley's bag when you were pretending to fight Arthur Weasley," Harry insisted.

"Why don't you prove it?" came the venomous reply. He took the filthy diary and disgustedly handed it to the elf next to him.

"What's inside that book, elf?" Harry asked, looking at Dobby. The elf opened it and saw the sock.

Picking it up, Dobby suddenly shouted, "I am free."

"You bastard. You will pay for that."

Harry smirked and walked away, keeping an eye open for a curse in the back, that did not come.

Later that evening Harry spent a several hours of his free time learning just what Dobby could do and what could be learned from the excitable house elf. He was quite pleased to have Dobby permanently working for him before the end of the week.


	3. Home and Healing

Home and Healing

Hermione still had to go in for daily checkups with the nurse, and often Harry went with her. After another report of no change, she sat there staring out the window as the nurse went over to do something else, trying to keep the tears away.

Harry sat next to her on the bed, seeing the expression on her face.

"Hermione," his voice was low and intimate. "Can I try something simple on you? I want to see if this different way to heal will remove the last traces of the petrification."

"What is it? How? We have studied the library and all the …" he put a gentle hand on her upper arm then concentrated with the same determination he had used on his own healing. Slowly the stain began to fade and the place where their skin touched was restored to its normal state.

"The pain is gone there Harry. What did you do?"

"I can't tell you here, but it has to do with how I survived in the chamber. Actually I think I was technically dead for a bit there."

"What!"

"Sshh, lower your voice. I don't want to explain all this to everyone," he nodded toward the nurse's office.

"All right," she continued, "but what is going on?"

"It worked on you. I can heal you," he answered simply. "Let's discuss this later, perhaps after curfew tonight. This isn't something we want anyone else to know about, trust me."

"With my life," she responded automatically.

The next day Harry and Hermione were at Professor Flitwick's office before breakfast.

"Professor," Harry began.

"Ah, Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, what can I do for you?" His smile was genuine.

"Professor, would a charms master like you be able to cast a coloring charm that not even the headmaster would be able to see through?" Harry looked very nervous.

"Why would you need something like that?" Unknown to Hermione, Professor Flitwick cast a silent charm to muffle their conversation and keep anyone from listening through the portraits in the hall. Since the door was still open, it just looked like they were speaking more quietly than normal. Harry explained their problem and the professor nodded.

"Certainly it is possible," he replied, "but a better answer is probably to use a small item that will likely turn up in your mail tomorrow, Miss Granger."

"Professor, how much authority does the headmaster have over the students? I mean he is even telling me where I have to stay over the summer," Harry tried to still his shaking hands without success as he looked carefully at the small professor and head of house for the studious. He knew he needed help and here was one chance to get some.

"Well, Mister Potter. The official rules state that he is your de facto parent while attending school for educational matters and discipline. That does not give him any further rights. However very few people tend to tell Albus Dumbledore what to do; your parents were one of the last, if I remember correctly."

"Do you know the details of Gringotts' banking customs, sir? I have some things I have not had an opportunity to ask them, and I doubt it will be easy to get there without someone paying too much notice."

"I am quite familiar with those particular rules, Mister Potter." Flitwick stated with an internal grin. The headmaster may have ordered him not to coach the boy, but he could answer questions.

"If I have money in Gringotts, shouldn't I know the details about it? I mean I have been to my vault, but I didn't even get to keep the key."

"Well, the headmaster has probably made sure you have everything you need for school," Harry noticed a particularly large frown from the small professor along with a slight shake of his head.

"I suppose it would be a bad idea to look into the banking procedures directly then," Harry said. He was still keeping a careful eye on Flitwick. His words and actions didn't seem to match. He started a smile then answered Harry's question, "I would say it is not a good idea, Harry."

"Well, I want to thank you for the help professor," Harry turned around, ready to leave.

"A moment," Flitwick said.

After rifling through his desk he handed Hermione a small piece of parchment before cancelling the privacy charms.

"Here is everything you need to read over the summer to ensure you are adequately prepared for the more advanced charms. It is good to see you two so willing to study ahead." Immediately catching on, they both smiled.

"Thank you professor," they intoned almost together.

In the morning a talisman came to Hermione by owl where she sat in the infirmary. Putting it on she activated it per the instructions and felt a wash of magic over her and her appearance returned to normal, completely masking the remaining coloration effects of the petrification.

Hermione spent most of her time the next few weeks studying frantically for the class times she had missed.

Hermione had been told to return to the hospital wing for a checkup on her still partial petrification and she was just about to leave the tower when Harry came down the stairs. Even after weeks of medical care he had a haunted look about him that made her remember what a close brush with death he had received.

"Final checkup," he asked with a compassionate smile?

"She still doesn't have any ideas," Hermione said while nodding.

"Before your final exam I have some questions to ask Madam Pomfrey. They aren't really about you, but could affect you a bit."

He stopped talking for a second and, suddenly she thought, walked over to her and held out his arm. "Shall we?"

Smiling, she stood next to him and allowed him to 'escort' her to the infirmary. After a quiet walk where they both were lost in their thoughts, Harry finally breached one of the subjects he has been thinking about.

"Good evening, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey chirped, she genuinely like these two.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry began. "What is the policy about sharing medical information on the patients in your care?"

"Why? I mean it is your patient information and can only be accessed by your parents or guardian."

"I can't imagine it would be a good idea for certain teachers to have complete access to this information for students they already have an extreme dislike for, so imagine my surprise when something a professor said indicated they knew much of my personal information." Harry's concerned look made her uneasy.

"I can assure you…" Harry looked at her sharply and her voice trailed off. She didn't like lying to students.

"I see. Are there other methods of 'checking up' on students we are not aware of?" Harry already knew there were but hadn't had the time to sort through all that had gone through his head when he destroyed Tom Riddle's diary.

"Let's see how Miss Granger is doing and then if you still want to talk we can," she replied, effectively cutting him off.

Harry moved back and let the healer do her checking. Hermione felt surprisingly uncomfortable now after Harry's questions.

"Miss Granger, I can only hope over time that your condition improves. If you need more pain medication or experience any unexpected new symptoms, please let me know."

Hermione finished ensuring she was straightened up and came over to where Harry was apparently lost in thought.

"Harry," she was standing not three meters from him and he still didn't hear her.

"Harry," she said again stomping her foot. He looked up startled and waved his wand in a dispelling motion before talking.

"All done?" he smiled.

"Why else would I be standing here?"

"To drag me off for my own exam," he said without thinking. After a moment he blushed realizing that was what some of his peers called making out.

Turning his head he muttered, "I just thought the nurse…" and quit talking.

"I know, Harry," she chuckled at his discomfort.

"I want us to do some extra studying over the summer," Harry said as if he was talking about eating an extra piece of chocolate.

"What?" her eyes widened.

"I know what we need to do to fix the rest of your condition, but I would like it if we learned some… control techniques first," Harry added, knowing that this was going to be a difficult thing anyway.

"Like what?"

"I don't think this is the best place to talk about it, but I have slipped some books into your bag. I am sure you are good enough to get the hint," he smiled a disarmingly shy smile.

They went up to their rooms, ignoring the glare from Ron about their closeness. He had been looking at Harry oddly ever since he came back from the basilisk.

Hermione came down last, surprised that he had finished first. His smirk led her to believe he was expecting her though. She laughed at it, a clear a beautiful sound to him.

"Come, dear. Let's get at breakfast so we aren't run over by the latecomers." His smooth smile was new too, and Hermione was sure she wouldn't get tired of that anytime soon. The 'dear' shocked her some, but she was still happy about it.

It seemed like the only time Harry could get time to talk to Hermione without anyone in hearing was either walking in the cold around the lake, since their library spot seemed to have more and more people sitting well within hearing. He knew they were much too visible if they left the castle regularly, so he decided to just wait. Ron was barely speaking to Harry after all the requests he study with them for their end of year tests. He genuinely seemed surprised that Harry was making the request, not Hermione. Ron was still ignoring them as they were packing to leave for the summer holiday.

On the train, Ron chose to sit with the Seamus and Dean, not really talking to Harry about it. Harry sat across from Hermione but she was soon sound asleep. He smiled at her peaceful expression. She still needed much more sleep than normal as her body fought against the petrification, and she wasn't complaining about the contact either.

When they stopped at the train station, Harry gently moved so Hermione could get by but followed closely, both managing their own trunks. They both watched as the students said goodbye, neither noticing how they stood almost touching shoulders the entire time. Hermione wasn't quite sure why she was so reluctant to leave, but she finally realized she was being rude to her parents by keeping them waiting.

As she picked up her trunk to leave, Harry followed suit and the both marched over to the muggle side of the platform with sober expressions. It was a surprised dentist that first saw the two marching across the platform as though on an important mission. They were both pleased at how much their daughter had grown, but she seemed very tired and moved stiffly. Suddenly she saw them and dropped her trunk and ran straight into a fierce hug with her mum. Her father patted her on the back for the minute it took the two women to convince themselves the other wasn't going to disappear.

As Harry approached with Hermione's trunk, he observed the Grangers most carefully. Mrs. Granger was about 165 cm tall and did not have the plumpness he saw with women who had many children. She was dressed well and had the presence of a lady who missed little of her surroundings. He loved her shoulder length dark brown hair that was quite curly without being fuzzy. Her eyes were very blue, a significant difference from Hermione's. Harry guessed that Hermione would look somewhat like her mother in a few years, but with lighter hair and finer facial features. Mr. Granger managed to look like a dentist, or perhaps a librarian. He had a definite university feel about him as though he spent much time with books. He was probably 178 cm tall with a slim build and Harry thought he looked meek next to the two ladies, who were exuberantly chatting away at the same time. His fit sweater and casual slacks and shoes made him rather nondescript.

Mr. Granger looked at this bedraggled boy that followed his baby girl from the other side and wondered if he was homeless. The lad had dragged his daughter's trunk along with his own, however, and that made it almost certain they were friends. The boy was scarcely larger than his petite daughter and wore clothes that should have been binned ages ago and obviously had never fit him in the first place. His trainers were kept together with tape. The boy's eyes though were a different matter. He was wary and watching. He had seen that look before, but wasn't sure where. He was about to do the manly thing and at least shake the lad's hand and would be surprised if the boy didn't break when he did. He was caught off guard when the boy reacted first.

"Mister Granger," he said firmly and held out his hand, having dropped the trunks. "It is a pleasure to meet Hermione's parents. I trust you are proud of her. She is the top student in our year and is heading toward setting academic records that will have her name set in stone. Of course in a castle school, that means literal stone."

Mr. Granger shook the hand, somewhat surprised by the proud way this boy spoke of his daughter, as though he was basking in that glory himself. The boys hand was anything but what he expected. It had evident callousing and the grip what quite firm. Whatever this boy was, it wasn't a weakling.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Hermione was immediately aware of the two men facing each other. Her nerves were jangled by the fact that neither had readable expressions.

"This is my best friend Harry Potter. Harry, these are my parents Nancy and Will Granger."

"I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Hermione is a truly great student and a magnificent friend." As he said this at the last second he looked away from Mr. Granger and to Hermione whose eyes shone. Evidently she was happy he was proud of her. He smiled, noticing how the color of her eyes exactly matched her father's.

"Boy!" Vernon's bellow echoed across the intervening space and seemed louder than a train whistle.

"I should leave. It was very nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Enjoy your holiday Hermione and don't forget to read those extra books. I may have left a note or two with them, explaining a couple of things." Harry departed suddenly, leaving the surprised Grangers unable to complete their own goodbyes with the lad.

Hermione chatted happily all the way home and her mother was thrilled she seemed so well adjusted. This year she was even more exuberant than last. She talked about Harry a lot and schoolwork and the many things magic could do and how strange the customs were.

The next morning Hermione opened up her trunk and saw the books Harry had somehow placed in it without her seeing. The first one was 'Occluding the Mind,' followed by several other titles about keeping your mind from others and even one detailing how to read other people's minds. How he got these she didn't know and she wondered whether they were illegal. She also saw two books on spell combat that made a shiver run up her back. Then she saw the note.

"I know these would be very valuable books to you in the near future, Hermione. This is one of the ways I want to protect you. Please study the Occluding book first and hard. My reasons will be explained when we get a chance to meet again, I will go wherever you would like to meet for a visit."

It wasn't signed, but she recognized the writing. In a few minutes she was lost in the descriptions of the exercises and techniques for concealing one's thoughts from a mind reader.


	4. The Granger Way

The Granger Way

It was only two days later when Will Granger answered the quiet knock on the door. Standing there was the boy from the train station, Harry. He was a bit worse for the wear and tear and it looked like there was a large bruise on his cheek.

"Harry?" Will was quite surprised, since it was scarcely time for most people to awake.

"Come in," he thought he should at least get the boy something warm. It was a cool morning and the light pullover he wore wouldn't have kept the boy warm very long. In fact he looked blue. "I've just put on some tea, let me get you a cup." Mr. Granger still didn't know what to think. The boy looked like he lived rough three weeks out of four but had impeccable manners. His daughter seemed to think Harry was quite something special.

"I've dropped by to work with Hermione on some extra magic work that can actually be done away from school. It would be quite helpful. I would also like to fund a shopping trip to Diagon Alley, even the bookstore. I would need to go to the bank first, however." Mr. Granger was surprised. He believed the boy hadn't two farthings to his name, yet he wanted to fund an entire shopping trip.

"I would be happy to give you a ride if you need, Harry." He smiled at the boy's obviously pleased reaction.

"I see some of where Hermione got the brightest witch of the age," Harry smiled into Mr. Granger's back as the man ducked in for the tea.

As Will came out of the kitchen, he watched the quietly brooding expression on the boy's face change to one of sheer joy.

"Harry!" was the shout from the stairs before Hermione suddenly threw herself at him and wrapped him in a hug. "I am so glad you came. I missed you already."

Will saw the shocked expression on the boy's face as he was hugged and the bewildered 'not knowing what to do' waving of his hands before he patted her on the back gently.

Finally the girl backed away and Harry listened to her carry on for a few minutes about reading the books, starting her summer work, what classes she was looking forward to next year, and what summer holiday they expected to take.

"Brilliant," was all Harry said, smiling about everything. He was slightly embarrassed at the very thin nightshirt Hermione was wearing, but considering one of the requirements he had for healing her, he guessed he better get used to seeing more of her than he had ever expected to. On the second turn of Hermione being bathed in the sunlight streaming from the kitchen window and giving the boys a bit of a peep show, Will acted.

"Hey sweat pea, you better change to meet your day." He gently swatted her rump as she realized what he meant and quietly left the room. No one expected that exchange to unleash and entirely different Harry Potter. Suddenly the air was too thick to breathe and the entire house shook for the count of ten.

Will Granger looked over into the eyes of what had just been a mild mannered boy a second ago into the blazing green eyes of a boy who had recently boldly faced a death dealing basilisk. Rage contorted his face for a moment before it all went blank and the quaking stopped.

Hermione raced down the stairs and saw her barely boyfriend slowly standing with a dark expression on his face staring at her father as power radiated from him.

"Perhaps it would be better if I came back another day," Harry said in barely a whisper.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione was in tears.

Harry didn't answer.

"I don't know," Mr. Granger finally said honestly.

Into the mess walked Nancy Granger in an oversized robe. Harry saw the worried expression on Hermione's mother's face and immediately apologized for making a scene, but still turned and headed for the door.

"If that is your friend trying to leave in such a state, you better go after him," Nancy said without preamble.

"Harry," her voice came out quite sad and unsure. "Don't you want to study together?"

"I am too angry." Harry said without explanation. Finally, at her hurt look he explained in a low voice only she could hear. "He hit you."

"Harry!" she jumped back, angry herself now. "My father may correct me, but he never 'hit' me in his life. How could you accuse him of that?"

"That doesn't change the facts, Hermione," insisted Harry. He had one good person in his life and he WOULD defend her.

"Stop it," Will said from the edge of the kitchen.

"Harry, if you would like to know what is going on, we will gladly discuss it. That is what families do."

Realizing that Hermione's attitude wasn't one of being hurt and that he had obviously misread the entire situation, he hung his head.

"Yes sir," Harry said meekly and came back to the table.

"Baby girl, go upstairs and get dressed. When you are done we can all talk together like responsible people," Mr. Granger said.

"I will wait," Harry said to Hermione's fierce gaze. She dashed up to her room and threw on some clothes before hurrying back downstairs, her emotions in a complete upheaval.

Harry's mind was racing trying to come up with a good way to explain the problem. Obviously there were things here he didn't understand.

When Hermione came back and sat at the table, everyone looked at Harry. He swallowed before he spoke. "I need a better definition of hitting, I guess. I apologize for my outburst and accusations, Hermione and Mr. Granger. I am not used to this sort of family."

"Haven't you ever seen the other kids play hitting, Harry?" Hermione wasn't quite sure why he didn't know the difference. She knew it was bad at the Dursley's but her sheltered childhood didn't prepare her for his emotional state under such abuse.

"Sure, but they are kids playing with kids. He is your father. If you were lucky you would get locked up, otherwise you would go to prison if you fought back." Harry summarized his upbringing neatly.

"Sorry? Prison? Harry, no one goes to prison for defending themselves. Not even from your parents." Nancy Granger said firmly.

"But I was told… I mean if an adult… I really messed up." Harry hung his head. "I am sorry if my words hurt you Hermione. I would do anything to keep you safe."

"Apology accepted, Harry. Just talk to me if you see a problem. We make a pretty good team," she said smiling.

"We do. Thank you for putting up with me. Perhaps I can make breakfast." Harry was desperate to change the subject.

"That won't be necessary," Nancy said with a grin.

"I like cooking, especially when I don't have to," his smirk was infectious, "and it will give me some time to think and a way to atone for my social gaff." Nancy could see why her daughter was drawn to this youngster.

After winning the brief argument, Harry immediately threw himself into making breakfast and everyone was amazed that in 30 minutes he brought out fresh scones, eggs, bangers and fruit topped with cream.

He stood back watching in amazement as they all started eating with abandon, smiles on their faces and complements on their lips. They were quite neat about it and there was no smacking or slurping in evidence. He also had never received such comments on his cooking. Harry went into the kitchen and started the cleanup, deciding that he should not interrupt their family breakfast.

Nancy got up with a frown and went to tell him off for not joining in but was stopped by Hermione. "Mum, Harry's had a pretty rough time at the Dursley's." She didn't say it, but it was clear, 'go easy on him.'

"Harry?"

"Yes, Mrs. Granger. Did you need some more of anything? I should be done in just a bit. Sorry if I was too noisy." The angst pouring from the boy was palpable.

"I don't think we are much like your family, Harry," she said sadly.

"You are great. You let me sit at tea with you. You spent valuable time talking to me. Believe me, I have no complaints. Is there anything else?" his voice sounded so eager to please.

"Harry, why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?" He was honestly curious which this she meant.

"Breakfast, helping Hermione study, dropping by with what I still think is something else on your mind. We don't mind if you like Hermione. It might even be a good thing. But it seems you aren't saying everything." Harry looked like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"No Ma'am, I haven't said everything," he answered in a small voice.

"Well?"

"May I speak with Hermione?" he said looking at the floor.

"Hermione, can you come in here and help Harry clean up?"

"Mum!" Hermione was in the kitchen almost before the words were spoken. "Harry hasn't eaten. In fact ... Harry, when was the last time you ate a full meal?"

He muttered something under his breath, before answering, "it's been a bit."

"When?" Hermione's voice was on edge again.

"Hogwarts," he said in a small voice.

"That was three days ago, Harry. What else have you eaten since? Did you even get anything from the trolley on the train home? You went to the Dursley's, right? Didn't they feed you?"

"No, you were asleep and the door would wake you. I managed a piece of toast on the way over, though. I had a chocolate frog left over from Christmas in my trunk. So I am fine." His entire manner was one of trying to disappear.

"And the Dursley's?"

"They were sort of too busy and I'm not allowed to sneak food."

"For two days?" Hermione's eyes narrowed.

Harry just nodded and shrugged. "It's not the first time." Hermione's face clouded over and then a moment later came the lightning.

"Daddy!" the last time Will Granger heard that tone of voice from his daughter a neighbor boy was beating a dog to death on the front lawn with a cricket bat. Will entered the kitchen looking for the fire. It had already been a terribly odd day.

"What is it sweatie?"

"Harry and I need to have a quick chat then WE will need some help with something. You don't have to go in until this afternoon, is it possible to take the entire day?" Hermione's was obviously terribly upset since the room was shaking with her anger.

"I will take care of it," Will had already considered it after Harry arrived.

"Harry, please come in and eat as much as you can comfortably get down, then we will talk in the library." Hermione left no room for discussion.

"Yes dear," he said with just a twist of the sarcastic, causing them all to laugh and causing the room to settle as Hermione's nerves settled somewhat. He marched into the dining room and sat to the breakfast. There was still a surprising amount left. After that both kids were shoved into the library for their chat.

"I'm sorry Hermione?" Harry began immediately. "I didn't mean to cause trouble. I wanted your parents to like me. The last …"

"Stop it, Harry. Don't apologize like you did anything wrong."

"But…"

"Just tell me why you are here. Did you get hurt again, too?"

"No. I mean just a bit. It … Oh, this is hard. I don't know what to say. Can we start with something else? What do your parents know about know about what really happened the last two years?"

"Well, someone from the school told them I was unable to communicate for a while but was otherwise healthy the day after I was petrified, then sent them weekly updates. They had a nice snow white owl, too.

"Harry, I don't keep secrets of any real sort from my parents. They can't make good decisions about me unless I give them all the facts and they are smarter than me. At least dad is; mum certainly is about some things. They know a lot more too. It took a lot to convince them to let me come back after the troll, but I did. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"I don't know, Hermione?" Harry's voice had an edge, "what did you say about me, especially about the Dursley's." Looking up, Hermione had a sudden flash of insight. Harry had never trusted anyone in his life, but was just beginning to trust her and she had almost lost that trust by saying things about him that he didn't want known. He was a far more private person than she was and he thought of any breach in that privacy as a major loss of trust.

"I just said a bit ago that you had it rough at the Dursley's. I didn't want mum to tear into you not knowing what stripes you bear on your soul." She wasn't sure where the poetic element came from but it sounded right.

"So anything I happen to know about you from school I can talk about with them?"

"Yes. Now there are a lot of questions I have but the biggest one is; 'why are you here?'" She knew it was more than he had said so far.

"Lots of reasons, but the most important is to finish your healing. Listen it will be embarrassing but it will work. It takes a lot out of me, but I can get all of it. I am the reason you didn't heal properly, at least I think so, unless someone is up to something very bad indeed. Well I have to push my healing magic through my hands while focusing on and touching your skin. I am sorry, but it means I have to see and touch all of you to fix all of you." Harry was beet red now and looking at the floor.

"I figured that part out already, Harry. We will get through this, just like you said. Just don't perv out on me too much."

"You are beautiful Hermione, so this will be hard in a way, but I will be as respectful as I can. This is one of those things I don't think you want your parents finding out about, but if you would feel more comfortable with your mom in the room, that would make sense."

"No, I don't think so," Hermione didn't think even her mom would be reasonable about this.

"I need to tell your parents about the problems after I get to the bank. I can't risk anyone finding out my plan until then. I also need some good advice, probably a lawyer or even a magical and normal lawyer." He looked away, thinking. "Do you trust your parents?"

"Yes, I trust them with my life. It is their job to take care of me and they do a good job." She wondered at his mistrust of everyone, but knowing what he said to her when she was not supposed to be able to hear, if that was all true then it wasn't surprising at all.

Harry went downstairs and waited quietly until the rest of the Grangers came into the living room. He was perched on the edge of the divan waiting for the axe to fall. When everyone was ready, Harry took a deep breath.

"I already know that what I am going to say will bring about some major disbelief until you hear my evidence. I am perfectly prepared to be evicted from the house for your own safety after this. Let me begin with the fact that I believe we are all being lied to a great deal of the time. Let me start with what I know as fact and work from there.

"I was told I was orphaned on Halloween, 1981. At this time I was about 15 months old, since my birthday is July 31st. According to the story I heard, Lord Voldemort, an alias for Tom Marvolo Riddle, decided to target me and it cost me the rest of my family. He was said to have been led there by a friend of the family, one Sirius Black. Unfortunately there is no proof of that. What is known is that everyone but me was destroyed that night, except for the betrayer, of course. Now the funny thing is, I was placed on my mother's sister's doorstep the following evening with a scar on my head, a supposed testament to my surviving a killing curse that rebounded and destroyed the man who orphaned me. The events seem suspicious since there doesn't appear to be a record of the rest of Halloween night nor the next day until evening again.

"Funny thing about that is that after the next night , I had no contact with the wizarding world and yet in Diagon Alley there were not only books with my 'supposed exploits' in them, but they had a fairly accurate sketch of me as well. That implies someone was watching over me unknown to anyone in the house, and that they have not admitted to doing so.

"Funny thing about being watched, you would think that anyone who was watching would have taken some care to see that I was properly looked after. This evidently was not the case.

"On to the next interesting fact… I was shown nothing of the wizarding world until I received an invitation to attend Hogwarts. It was addressed so specifically that someone had to know that I wasn't allowed to sleep in a proper bedroom. It was the address on this letter that made my Aunt shove me into the extra spare room, for fear of being discovered.

"I was finally rescued from the home my first year by Hagrid personally delivering my Hogwarts letter. He intimidated my Uncle even to the point of ignoring the shotgun. He is the one who showed me about Diagon Alley, took me to my bank vault even though he kept the key, and then dropped me off at Kings Cross station with a ticket that meant nothing.

"Who showed you about the wizarding world, Hermione?"

"Professor McGonagall."

"Hagrid wouldn't answer any of my questions because he didn't know and was afraid to say. I finally 'overheard'" Harry's voice took a strange twist at that, "someone mention the platform number and loudly decry how crowed the muggle side of the platform was since it was 'packed with muggles.'" Harry let the implications sink in. He was a bit paranoid, but he wanted other opinions as well.

"Now I know that Mrs. Weasley is not considered highly intelligent and certainly Arthur is a bit daft, but someone who has gone to Hogwarts themselves as well as sent multiple children multiple years and who had a husband working at the ministry should know better than to loudly proclaim such things in public in full view of muggles. This prompted the lost boy Harry Potter to get help onto the platform and then end up sitting with Ron Weasley, my own roommate. In my first year, Ron seemed to concentrate on being my friend to the exclusion of anything else, even his studies. He had a great jealous streak where money was concerned as well.

"In my first year… I found one professor instantly hated me in my first class with him. He accused me of being a celebrity then asked questions that were clearly above the entire year level of that class while Hermione sat there with her hand raised obviously having read ahead. He refused to call on her. There were warnings and trouble, like 'avoid the third floor corridor if you don't wish to die.' This is a questionable tactic when dealing with a hundred curious minded children.

"So before the end of the first term, I found myself facing down a troll and only pure luck got Hermione and I away with little injury. It might be noted that Ron was the reason you were in the path of the troll in the first place and that the headmaster, who appears to know everything that happens in the school missed a twelve foot very stupid monster wandering the halls and assumed that every student would be at that moment in the hall eating. Of course, if he knew the troll was in the second floor corridor where a certain girl who I had shown some interest in was crying, he could have just sent the kids to their dorms without endangering anyone else."

Hermione sat bolt upright. "Quirrel said the troll was in the dungeons. The troll must have already been on the second floor or it couldn't have gotten past all the Slytherin students that headed straight there from the Great Hall.

"Later there was the incident with the Philosopher's Stone. I find it funny that the professor that ended up telling me how to get past the Cerebus with music gave me a flute for Christmas earlier that year. I also find it interesting that Ron was involved, who had no value on that trip and perhaps has no value at all except for his skill as a chess player and his ability to eat mass quantities. Oh, and one of the obstacles there was a giant chess game. I often wondered if he was supposed to sacrifice more than one player that day. Finally I reached the final conclusion and just before hand Hermione bolstered my confidence by saying I am better than I really am. Ron had stated that he knew I had to go through to the end, not either of them. He never did have a valid reason for that statement. I ended up facing Voldemort who had partially possessed the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher all year. Naturally I got very lucky again and my mother's protection, according to the headmaster, burned the professor's body."

Harry stood up and started pacing. "One of the things they don't tell you about in school is how to face death, your own death or someone else's. That is hard, but nothing compares to facing the death of someone and knowing that you are the killer. It was that killer who was sent home with house points and winning some prize, like that mattered when in a life and death struggle with the most dangerous terrorist since 1945.

"Now since I didn't have anything better to do, I was again locked up unless I was doing chores, which meant anything they could figure out how to make me do. Now would be a good time to remember that my relatives had been quite upset with me going to this school in the first place, but they guessed someone would watch to see if they picked me up from the station. Their retribution was quite painful and long lasting and when the weather is particularly bad I can still feel it." Both the senior Granger's perked up at that. It was a known problem with major bone and joint injuries, but seldom a problem with soft tissue damage unless it was dramatic.

"At the end of that summer, the Weasley twins came for me in a flying car. They pulled the bars off the window and I managed to escape with my uncle literally clinging to my heels. Interestingly enough, Ron commented about them starving me. I am pretty sure I didn't say anything like that in a letter. That was the year that Ron took me to school because of Dobby. I wonder what happened to Dobby?"

"Harry Pott…" these were the only words Dobby got out before he was staring into a wand being held by Harry.

"Harry!" Hermione began, then thought of something else.

"Sorry," he muttered before he lowered his wand.

"So Dobby, why are you here and what have you been up to? Wait, don't answer that. I don't think I will be able to start this tale again. Please sit down and be quiet. I have some questions for you later." Dobby sat down on the floor without a sound. His eyes were even bigger than Hermione thought they used to be.

"Now I believe Dobby had tried to warn me away from Hogwarts because his former master had started something terrible this year. Then we had the Lockhart fiasco, a worthless wizard if ever I saw one. Good only for looking good and casting memory charms." He ignored Hermione's blush at that and soldiered on.

"I was blamed for the unleashing of a terrible beast that terrorized the school. Only later did I find that not only had the chamber been opened fifty years ago by the young student that would become Lord Voldemort, but that he had blamed Hagrid for it back then and gotten him expelled and his wand snapped. A student had died, but then after that the chamber was never opened again. No one seemed to know why. But what was known was that no more attacks came after Hagrid was locked up. Lots of questions there, like why did it take the brilliant mind of Hermione Granger just a month or two as a second year student to figure out what the creature was when the greatest wizard mind in current history couldn't figure it out in fifty years and two months while living in the selfsame castle. Or why the ministry again locked up Hagrid when the only crime he ever committed was having a pet giant spider. Of course he is as big as a house now and has somehow managed to find a mate and have hundreds of large dog sized children, even some the size of horses living in the great forest.

"Now, back to the end of my tale… The headmaster was somehow driven from the school by the board of governors being terrified of a monster, but that same monster knew how to write on the walls in blood. Someone had also killed all the roosters in Hagrid's pens. According to some, the crow of a rooster kills only one creature, the basilisk. Much later I end up in the chamber of secrets with Ron, who gets ambushed by the useless teacher causing a small avalanche of rock. I go on and get rescued by the headmaster's own phoenix, Fawkes. She took out the creature's most dangerous weapon, the killing gaze. During this time Tom Riddle bragged about who he was, Voldemort. It was from him that I learned he was a half-blood and had framed Hagrid. Interestingly enough than Albus Dumbledore himself was a teacher at the school at that time and almost had to know who he was, at least later, and thus that Hagrid was innocent. I wonder if there are other innocents he of and has done nothing about?"

"Well, back to the basilisk, I managed to evade it long enough for Fawkes to come to my rescue and blind the thing, all the while being heckled by the almost resurrected 16 year old Voldemort. He was the one who told me about framing Hagrid and possessing Ginny with the intent to kill her in order to come back alive. He told me I was his main target because I had lived.

"I was still bounced around quite a bit and got a bit of a thrashing before I managed to get the sword that Fawkes brought me into play. I managed to stick my hand in the thing's mouth and ram the sword into its brain. Unfortunately, it thrashed around a lot and I ended up with a basilisk fang imbedded in my arm. It was just one of the small ones, but it was a venom carrier." Unknown to himself, Harry rubbed his right arm where the scar was as he continued, "I found out something. Voldemort had indeed been the one to kill my parents and had left me with a legacy of that terrible night; a piece of him in my scar. This is one of the reasons he is almost immortal.

"There was another fight that night after I stabbed the diary and freed Ginny from certain death. The fight for my own soul, and it left a mark, or rather a memory of all the deeds of Tom Riddle. I don't like doing it, but I am able to recall things he knew or did, not the least of which was the killing of his own family before he even was out of school. He is truly a monster.

"Well, back to the better times. Hermione figured out the monster was a basilisk just before she was petrified. Fortunately she wrote it down and used a mirror and she wasn't killed like Myrtle the Ghost. Professor Snape managed to mix the petrification reversal potion from ingredients we had started cultivating since the first of the year. It appears that only one person had an adverse reaction to the potion, Hermione. It also seems that she was the only one who received her restorative from that last batch made. It was used on no one else. I thought perhaps my when magic had interrupted your paralyzation, that caused the problem, but now I am not so sure.

"I have since found out that the headmaster was quite concerned about my relationship with Hermione, probably since she is strong and smart, and she is helping me to become a better and less dependent person. It also appears that his own pet potions master, who hates me, ensured that she receive a completely different potion from everyone else that recovered just fine. Where all these individual facts are small, the sum total adds up to potentially something quite off about the whole thing and I wouldn't trust the headmaster to make your tea.

"The books I gave you Hermione came from the personal library of Salazar Slytherin, as shown me by Tom Riddle's memories. I went back once to check on them and also learned a great spell that allows me to copy a book. The ones you have are copies and in the back of the dueling book you will find a written copy of the copy-book spell.

"It seems that the headmaster and Professor Snape both have the ability to read minds. The first series of books will allow you to keep your secrets, as well as mine. You could even go so far as to learn to read someone else's mind which is taught in the last book. I found out that the headmaster knows all the bad treatment I have gone through and was still insisting that I go back there this summer, to be treated poorly.

"My best guess is that I was being taught to be meek and submissive to him and his agenda. Now when I asked what was the reason Voldemort targeted me, the headmaster specifically didn't answer the question but just mentioned that he would tell me when I am older. It appears that everything he does in my life, including some of the dangerous stunts at the school involving Voldemort all have a common thread. It is either Voldy or me and I believe our beloved professor wants me to die taking out Voldemort, or at least die so he can finish the job, not sure which.

"Now is the time when I want you all to say I am just being paranoid, crazy, insecure, delusional, or just plain stupid. Any one of them will be better than what I think is the truth." Harry sat down, exhausted at pouring out his life like that to Hermione, let alone to her parents.

"So why do you think Hermione is being targeted?"

"Well, she certainly makes it harder for someone else to control me if she can easily see through their lies. She also gives me courage. I wouldn't have gone after the basilisk if Hermione hadn't been hurt by it. Other than that I don't know, unless someone wants to be sure I never have any happiness in life."

"Harry," Will Granger began, "how much of this is provable? I mean this is some pretty wild stuff." Harry looked at him for a moment then shook his head.

"Dobby could probably tell you most of it was true from his own knowledge, but he is a house elf and at least beholden to me. Could we have a private word? I could prove my fight with the basilisk, at least part of it."

"Nancy, could you make some tea? We will be back after a chat." Will led Harry into the other room.

"Does the great Harry Potter want Dobby to be sure you cannot be heard?" Dobby was there without either of them realizing it.

"No, that won't be necessary, but I would like to spend some time with you to find out what you are capable of, if you are willing to help." Dobby was practically jumping up and down in glee as he left.

"I can't tell you anything, sir," Harry began, "that would prove anything. But perhaps I can show you something."

Harry rolled up his right sleeve to show a fairly fresh scar on his arm that was nearly the size of his palm. There was still some discoloration around the wound, as though it was dipped in black ink for a second.

"My body is still fighting that off. It is why I am so tired. I figure it will take another week or two. Now do you believe me?" At Mister Granger's nod, Harry turned to almost pounce on him.

"You must get Hermione out of Hogwarts and probably the country. She is known now by both sides and I don't care what people say, some of the old guard of Voldemort's are still going strong. They will target her. I will do anything to keep her safe, except one thing." Harry's expression grew disconsolate.

"What would that be?" Will was pretty sure he knew, but thought the boy would benefit from saying it.

"I can't give her up. I would be pretty tore up if she decided to date someone who wasn't good to her, but I would be lost if I lost her as a friend. She is my only … the only one on my side. I know she doesn't feel the same way, 'cause she is going to take the world by storm and is better than me. Once people figure out how great she is they will fall at her feet. But I just… Do you need anything further to let you know I am telling the truth?"

"No. Let's talk to the ladies. And Harry?" Will Granger slowly and carefully wrapped the boy in a full hug. "You now have an entire family on your side. We will never hit you. I have disciplined Hermione, even physically, but I never really hurt her. There is a huge difference between a corrective swat and actual hitting. She can tell you about it if you like."

Will looked at the young man, after what he had faced in life he couldn't be considered a boy anymore.

The rest of their evening the talks were about what to do from here. Harry let them know his reasoning for the professor's involvement in Hermione's life and why he thought they were reading his mind. He also shared some of the darker parts of the story of his fight with the ghost of Voldemort and his subsequent fight for survival. The details had the family looking almost ill.


	5. Gringotts

Gringotts

The next day was Gringotts day, where Harry had to figure out where he stood financially. Surprisingly enough, Will and Harry decided to go to the bank while the ladies stayed home. There would be a different shopping trip when they all could go. Mr. Granger was shocked at how many people were instantly friendly due to Harry being famous.

"I would like to inquire about my account. I am Harry Potter." Harry said politely, after waiting for some time for the goblin to recognize him.

"What inquiry would you want?" the goblin said gruffly. Harry and Will had discussed how to treat someone whose customs they did not know.

"Sir, I wish you only the best, but I do not know the proper address for a noble goblin such as yourself and do not wish to offend. How should I address you?"

"I am Gripiron, the formal address would be First Teller Gripiron."

"First Teller Gripiron, how can I find out what confidentiality rules govern my account? I do not wish certain financial dealings to be known."

"Does this requirement include your financial manager?"

"First Teller Gripiron, I do not know who that would be, but I have little trust in anyone not in this bank to do what is in my best interests. If I were to know what rules, laws, and honor customs are in effect it would greatly improve my ability to not only determine the best course of action for me, but to defend Gringotts' integrity to my peers." There was shock in the face of the goblin for a moment.

"You are a boy, perhaps when you are a man we will think your word is worth more."

Will Granger looked at one of the guards standing next to the office they had been escorted in to. He wondered. "How do you assess whether he is a boy or a man?"

"Deeds make a man."

"Would a warrior's deeds count him as a man?"

"Yes, but the deeds done while he was an infant are not a warrior's deeds."

"You should show them the body of your basilisk," Will said while keeping the guards in view. Both immediately stared at him as if he were mad.

Finally Harry figured out where this was going and played along. "It is at Hogwarts. I could possibly visit. I wonder if there is a sales market for the parts. I have the fang still. Maybe Dobby could get it.

"May I call my friend?"

"Yes," the Gripiron said more out of surprise than anything else.

"Dobby."

"What can Dobby do for master Harry Potter?"

"Dobby, I need friends not servants. That is the condition of you working for me. I have seen you pop about. Do you know how to get to my things at the Dursley's?"

"Yes, do you want you things brought to your Grangy?"

"Yes, but I need the basilisk fang from my trunk. It is wrapped in an old shoe and some rags. Be careful, it still has venom in it."

Dobby popped away for a minute.

"Gripiron, do your names show family connections?" Harry asked while biding his time.

"Yes," came the cautious reply.

"Then please give my regards to Griphook, if you are related. He was the first Teller to tend to me and he was quite kind. I did not see him at the teller stations today."

There was no response from Gripiron but a surprised nod.

Dobby then came back holding the bundle Harry had described. He was about to open it when the doors crashed open and a dozen Goblin guards came in along with a large armored troll.

"We would meet with Harry Potter," a commanding voice from the center of the military attachment said with authority.

"Your Highness," Gripiron immediately prostrated himself to the floor.

Will nudged Harry as he took a knee and was pleased that Harry followed suit.

A golden armored Goblin of stately bearing came out from the guards.

"Rise, warrior, if that is what you are. I will speak with you after there are proofs made."

Harry rose stiffly and Will was surprised to see anger in his face.

"You show anger?" Everyone in the room held their breath. No one alive had dared to show hostility to King Ragnok. It was a death sentence, which was one reason he never met with the arrogant wizards.

"My apologies, but it is the truth, highness."

"Why?"

Harry thought hard about how he could possibly answer and live to see tomorrow.

"I will simply state what I know and abide by your judgment. I have been considered a famous wizard from the year 1981, yet I knew nothing about this world of magic until I received my school letter last year. At the same time there were accurate sketches of me and books printed about my exploits saying I had destroyed the dark lord. Clearly I was being watched. But I was not being protected, neither at the house nor at the school, and I have the scars to prove it.

"This spying on me was likely done with the intent to manipulate me further along another's path for their own purposes, which I believe were intended to end in my death against Voldemort. It is this history of spying and manipulation that I resent and when I realized you had been listening in on a conversation after I had clearly voiced concerns over confidentiality, it made me angry. My life may be lost trying to live it, but I deserve the right to try. By holding this information over my head without my knowledge, it felt as if I was being manipulated again for someone else's purposes. I wish to have the right to my own private dealings and will fight to protect that right." Harry thought for a moment then added, "As I would fight for the right to protect your privacy and that of your bank."

There was a deathly quiet as the mouse looked into the eyes of the hawk. Slowly a chuckle came from the king's throat before it died down. At the same time Will Granger thought this boy and his girl were more evenly matched intellectually than he had expected. The boy was quite intelligent, obviously.

"I believe we need to have a talk, guards clear the room, with the exception of the boy and his guardian."

After the room cleared and Ragnok took the desk chair vacated by Gripiron, Harry spoke up.

"I would not have you think me dishonest, your majesty, but Mr. Ganger is not my guardian. He is the father of my only real friend and is here as my advisor."

"It will not matter if you cannot produce the proofs you claim to have a warrior's experience."

"Is the listening device still in operation from this room, King Ragnok? Your own privacy may be under attack if it is."

A loud laugh came from the elderly goblin. "Protect my privacy indeed. I had forgotten that." He reached under the desk and turned off the monitoring charm.

"Now what proofs do you have that you have faced deadly combat. Tell your tale as well and I will guarantee that none of it you do not wish shall be broadcast to any others."

Harry launched into his full tale of combatting the troll first and was interrupted before he had finished.

"You say you leaped on the troll to save your friend?"

"Well, she was not my friend yet, but that is what allowed us to become friends."

"When did this occur?"

"October 31st, 1991."

"How do you know the date so clearly?"

"It was during the Halloween feast. It was also the anniversary of my parents' death. Where others celebrate it, I do not."

"Did you know that we were taking care of a troll carcass the next day from one Severus Snape. The thing was quite dead and he claimed that a student had done the deed. He evidently knew better than to lie about it. Tell me exactly what happened."

Harry again described the incident, trying to remember details he otherwise did not. "So I jumped on its back from the sink, I was not tall enough to reach. When grabbing hold of his neck my wand went up its nose, and I think I may have pushed a spell into it, but couldn't be sure. The next thing I know I am on the ground and Ron says he knocked it out."

"This Ron is the friend you supposedly saved?"

"No, he is the reason the girl, Hermione, was there, because of something he said."

"So this girl is the one who became your friend afterwards?"

"Yes, she is my best friend."

"When the troll fell, did you see it move or anything?"

"It gave a snort and twitching jerk, then was silent. I wasn't even sure it was breathing."

"The troll we recovered had its brain damaged by an unknown spell. It was quite destroyed. This is the first proof that you are a warrior. I do not know of many, no matter how lucky, that could take on a troll with the little magic you had available, now on with your experiences."

By the end of the stories, Harry had not only shown the basilisk tooth, but had been asked to see if he could retrieve the sword of Gryffindor.

"Well, the phoenix Fawkes brought the sorting hat which held the blade. I didn't see it at first."

"And you called this Fawkes?"

"No, I was told that it was my loyalty to the headmaster that summoned her, and I guessed that it was her loyalty to the headmaster that triggered that event."

"Well, why don't you try to call Fawkes," Ragnok suggested.

"Fawkes," Harry nearly jumped out of the chair in surprise as the phoenix suddenly appeared in flaming flight, then stopped and landed on the desk, facing Harry almost nose to nose. He could feel her breath and her humorous thoughts as her scent overpowered his other senses for a second. He breathed again and said aloud, "Fawkes, you are being discourteous to our host, King Ragnok. Please give him all due respect."

King Ragnok thought he was done being surprised by this young wizard, but he was woefully wrong. The boy stared in the phoenix's eyes for a long moment and then nodded.

"Get them," Harry said to the bird. In a moment Fawkes flamed and back and retrieved not only the sword of Gryffindor for the wizard, but also the diary that Voldemort had possessed.

"One more thing, King Ragnok, does the dead basilisk have meaning or value? I can think of no other reason why Fawkes would be willing to get the carcass, except maybe to prove my tale."

"If you can bring the carcass here, I will honor you as a warrior and have you made financially independent before nightfall. Unfortunately that would have dire consequences for you. You have not seen your financial contracts I take it."

"What contracts?" Harry tried not to get angry.

"You have a dozen or more bills on lesser loans that are coming due. If they are not paid soon, you will lose a significant portion or your wealth. These arrangements have been included in your monthly statements."

"What statements? I have received nothing from Gringotts. In fact last summer I didn't receive any mail due to a problem that I fixed for good just a few weeks ago.

Harry froze, not sure what was going on as he read over the loan contracts.

"This was all done by Albus Dumbledore. Now if you don't honor the contracts, the first contract would get half of your wealth. But each successive contract would account for half of what was left. The final contract for non-payment has a penalty of a minimum of a hundred thousand galleons. If you don't honor them all, then you will owe that person more wealth than you could possibly repay. This would make you a fiscal slave to them. If you pay them then each will take a percent of very small part of your wealth and power and you will again lose your ability to rule your own life. These businesses are required to keep your seats on the Wizengamut.

"Unfortunately, you cannot pay these accounts until you since they hold a lien on your existing vaults. Therefore, you need several hundred galleons in the next month to pay off loans before you can receive the reimbursements of approximately the same amount. If not paid you lose everything and you have to find the money from somewhere else."

"Well, I guess I am no allowed to take out a Gringotts load either?"

"Correct, each clause specifies that nothing used to pay it off can come from your existing vault directly or indirectly, nor can it be in the form of a payment received from a loan or gift of any kind. Someone really tried to bust you here."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since the beginning of last year."

"You mean just a few months after I started Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I think Dumbledore wanted to be sure you didn't have anyone else looking after you. If you look, each of these is signed as your proxy, which he maintains while you are in school."

"We can't completely block the money manipulation unless you are emancipated, but if you are considered a goblin recognized warrior, then you will be a fiscal adult, able to make any legal contracts with us and other wizard entities as necessary."

Will leaned over and whispered something in Harry's ear.

"I want to sell something to Gringotts, if that is allowed."

"Yes, but it can't come from your existing properties or any listed asset."

"What about a creature I killed, the basilisk."

"If you can produce it, we will at least look. A typical specimen should be worth enough to get you by until you can resolve these issues."

"Very well, where would you like the carcass? I believe Fawkes said she would handle getting it where it was needed."

Harry was surprised when it took only an hour to make almost all of his financial problems disappear. Boy was Albus going to be upset, and confused. All of the loans would be paid back but the early payment bonuses would actually make some money in the long run. Dumbledore just knew that it was impossible for Harry to come up with that much money with the stipulations he had put on the repayment.

It was also clear, from the language of several of the contracts, that Albus expected Harry to be dead before his seventeenth birthday. Then a large number of freedoms would come Harry's way, bringing serious legal issues for the headmaster.

Harry looked at the new wallet with spending money, a credit card, and passport in it. He would have to wait for the rest of the arrangements to come to fruition.

He stood amazed that they would do all of this for Harry Potter.

"Let's get started." Then King Ragnok said formally " Harry, do you accept the mantle of a warrior for the good, to the betterment of your people and to defend the weaker from harm?"

Harry recognized the solemnity of the words and answered accordingly.

"I pledge my will, my wand and my life to the defense of good, the weak, and the unjustly accused." The proclamation was accompanied by a burst of magic.

"I pronounce you a warrior elite and an adult in the Gringotts' financial world. You are allowed to take any and all financial actions as well as sign legally binding paperwork. In a few days you will receive the bracers denoting your station to the goblin nation. If you wear them then you will be able to command most goblin obedience as long as you swear it is for the good of the nation. Wearing the bracers would make it nearly impossible to lie on that subject. I shall have tutors sent to you to teach to the basic fighting requirements for warriors with which you are not already familiar. You have until then to take care of this betrothal problem by having a known relative register full adoption intent.

"Perhaps, King Ragnok, when I am older I would be able to work enough to repay you for your kindness and generosity," Harry said.

It was agreed that Harry would come back to the bank in three days to be instated in the warrior tribes of goblins.

Harry got a substantial cache of money from his vault and a ledger then decided to look over the rest of the financials later. He got another few items from his parents vault, but didn't spend any time looking over other things. He also arranged a place for Fawkes to deposit the carcass of the basilisk and that the goblins would take 20% of the total price for processing and sale of the material.

Will insisted on stopping at a store and buying several sets of clothing for Harry that fit properly, as well as new trainers and some semi-dress shoes. Arrangements were made so Dobby could get money with the proper note.

It was an exhausted pair of men that came back hours later than expected to two most worried women. Harry didn't even make it back to the room that he was expected to use, but fell asleep on the divan. He didn't see the look of concern from Hermione turn to one somewhat softer as she saw the haggard look in his eyes. She was worried that he did not meet her eyes, but she thought it just the tiredness.

Surprisingly, Harry took an early walk the next morning and was gone when the Granger's awoke. He was back just before breakfast, but still looked beat. He waved as the senior Granger's went to their office.

He decided on the honest approach, having heard that it was the best policy. "Hermione, we have to talk." She was still dressed in her nightgown and it did funny things to his insides, making this discussion even harder.

"I found a lot more proof that a lot of people are trying to not only control my life, but take everything I have. This includes hereditary political positions as well as several companies that my parents owned. Look at the details." He places a stack of fiscal contracts in front of her detailing the small loans that were signed to other people and companies with draconian penalties for any missed payment or

"While we are getting ready for the hard part," Harry began, "can we be honest with each other? I think you may know by now that I like you a lot. I guess I want to know if you could … well … do you like me like that? You know as a boyfriend or at least potential boyfriend? I know you said you would keep me in your book, I just want to know what place I am in. I am not asking now, but want to know for sure I will be considered, that it won't end our friendship if we try to date at some time in the future."

"Harry, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I haven't given it much thought. Could I have a few days? Life has been a bit frantic around here." She didn't miss the despondent look on his face at her answer. It was clear he wanted more than just friendship.

"Hermione, I know it has been rough, but can we talk by day after tomorrow? I have to go back to the bank then, too. I was hoping for a date at the ice-cream shop if you want to, even if you say no. That isn't a commitment, just a date."

"Sure Harry," she answered. She saw that he was really worried about her answer, but he was still willing to buy her an ice-cream just because, whether she said yes or no. That alone made her much more likely to say yes. Still, this was a big step for her.

If Ron or someone else had asked the same question, and she liked them, then it would be an easy answer. But Harry? He didn't make this kind of statement unless he was sure of it. He didn't do things halfway. He wanted something long term, possibly leading toward marriage. Heavens, she was only thirteen. It was far too early in to make such decisions. Still, she knew that some people found their spouse quite early and just waited to get married. In fact generations ago, it was possible for girls to marry at her current age, but it didn't happen often. The selection of a bride earlier did happen often enough that betrothal's were used and other methods of promising a bride. She wondered why she thought about all of this. She was young and it wouldn't be an issue for years yet.

They spent the rest of their day studying and practicing their mental exercises and she was astonished at how far Harry had already progressed. According to the book he was into the second year of the three years required to master the discipline. With the look that teachers around Hermione had come to fear, she set herself a goal to learn this mind discipline as soon as possible.

The next day, while she worked doggedly at her self-assigned tasks, Harry finished up the summer work he had planned and then made lunch. She came out of her reverie smelling hot beef sandwiched and fresh baked biscuits.

"Mmmm that smells good. I get it. If you plan to cook like that it definitely adds to your husband potential," Hermione teased gently. She missed his startled look as she had her face almost buried in her plate.

"Careful what you wish for, Miss Granger." Harry chided back. Realizing that she was probably in the best frame of mind for his discussion, he forged on.

"So have you come to any conclusions on my status yet? Am I good enough for the excellent Hermione Granger?"

"I suppose, Harry," she said lightly. Did she mean it? Yes. He was good to her and she liked him. He was also good for her, according to her mother.

"Well, you know how I don't like to wait for things," Harry said with a smirk. He saw her immediately jump to a worst conclusion before she realized he had made no physical move to even get in a kiss. "It seems that the universe has conspired to push us together, what with dark lords and trolls and all. But two days ago was a big one. I have here a formal agreement that includes us making a future together, unless we deliberately break the agreement."

Hermione looked at him like he had three heads. Numbly she took the contract, immediately noting that it had the Gringotts stamp on it. Harry continued talking as she began to read.

"I do regret that this comes about five years earlier than we are ready for."

Hermione sat there stunned as she read the formal language of an 'intent to marry' contract. It had specific rules that were required for behavior and protocol for both of their behavior. After finishing the document, she saw it was signed neatly by Harry, and next to it was William Granger, her father.

"I don't understand," her voice quavered a bit.

"You know how sometimes situations find me, even if I don't look for them?"

She nodded.

"Well, at Gringotts, I was placed in a situation where I had to prove that I had faced warrior worthy foes."

"Mercy, Harry. You have faced more monsters than most war veterans," she threw out.

"Well, someone tipped off the management of the bank and I found myself in a meeting with the director of the bank, who never sees wizards, with your father right next to me. Well, when I proved my warrior's credentials to his satisfaction, he informed me that only a warrior wizard and his family would be allowed to meet him.

"Well in the process of King Ragnok explaining my status as a valuable client, he mentioned that I had all these marriage contracts in my name and that they were basically a way to control me for the rest of my life, which would be short if I had to have seven wives and manage the political.

He tried to find a common ancestor, but I didn't know my family tree well enough to get even started on that. Then the king asked if Mr. Granger had any daughters. This is the result. It isn't as though I don't want to look forward to spending a life with you, but I didn't want you trapped in something. There are pretty easy escape clauses in it. I read that part three times to be sure. I just couldn't do anything to your family, Hermione. I think a lot of your dad." Harry was really beginning to sweat.

Hermione looked at him and then left the room, carrying the document. He just sat there numb. She hadn't said a word.

A minute later, she returned and handed it back, her expression still somewhat grim. He looked at the rolled up parchment for bit before she unrolled it and showed him her signature and today's date.

Harry immediately retrieved a small box that girls the world over recognized and placed it on the table. "Hermione, will you be my one and only girl and allow me to be your one and only boy?"

She opened the box and looked at a simple gold band with some small sparkle woven into a ribbon like carving in the center of the ring. Twelve very small gems were imbedded into the top portion of the ring where a large gemstone would normally be, on each side of the wrap around filigree.

She picked it up gently, then handed it to him and held her hand out to place it on the third finger of her right hand, in some places indicating a betrothal.

"Yes," was all she said, and she was surprised that he threw his arms around her pulling her into a hug. To her knowledge, he had never initiated any but the most basic sort of physical contact with another person.

She smiled contentedly. Perhaps he could be taught. It was scarcely a minute later, just as Harry was trying to figure out if he should try to kiss her when the parents came home. Both teens were disappointed at the interruption, but Nancy immediately spotted the ring and happy expression on Hermione's face and grabbed her into a huge hug herself.

"I hope you are good with this, mum. I know it is sudden, but Harry and I have been through a lot together. I could be around anyone else for years and not see them in the kinds of situations Harry seems to make normal."

A surprised family was fed dinner by Dobby and even more surprising, Fawkes appeared and perched on the back of an empty chair throughout dinner. Occasionally Harry tossed him a piece of food which she deftly caught, much to the amusement of the Grangers. Only Harry noticed the slight tremuling from Fawkes as if she was humming to herself.

"Harry, I know one more thing we need to ask your banker friends," Nancy said.

"What Mrs. Granger?"

"Advice, maybe even see if they will give you access to someone who is a well informed and cagey advisor. It appears to me that some of your decisions have much bigger consequences than we originally thought," she said with a chuckle and glance at Hermione's ring.

"It certainly makes sense, but I need help with the wizarding culture and I hope to continue to have you all for the normal one. Are there others I don't even know about?"

"Yes," this time it came from Will. "You have a house elf and a phoenix that are somewhat more than just passing acquaintances. Any other races or creatures you want to get friendly with?"

"There are a lot of fantastic beings, but the races are mostly House Elf, Goblin, Centaur, and Mer," Hermione added.

"Do you think that is a complete list?" Fortunately for Harry, the question came from Will, not him.

"I am not sure. Now that I think about it, the list didn't actually include the House Elf," Hermione was again thinking that she had put too much faith in the wrong people, the author this time.

"I need to be able to understand some of these people in their native languages and probably be able to learn another language. If I don't them I am stuck at Hogwarts."

"What about private tuition? Do you have the funds?" Will asked.

"I think I have the funds… but I am pretty sure Dumbledore will stop any efforts I attempt in that regard," replied Harry.

"What about information on Dumbledore? What I mean is, is there any way to know better why he is doing all these things to you?" Nancy asked.

"How old is he?" Will asked suddenly.

"Over a hundred," Harry answered easily.

"Then let's find out about his past. That is a lot of years we know little about. Harry, if you want to give this independence a go, then you need to find a full support team to help you, and the most important thing about a support team, is that you listen to them," Will sounded very much like Hermione when he spoke like this, causing Harry to smile. Unfortunately Hermione noticed and was just about to go on a rant when Harry put a hand right next to hers, obviously wanting to take her hand in his but not sure enough to actually do so. This distracted Hermione as she took his hand, then wondered why he was really smiling instead of just assuming she knew.

They spent the next hour talking about what information they needed and why before Will said something that stopped everyone in their tracks. "I believe you need to prepare for war."

"What!" Hermione and Nancy said at the same time. They both looked at Harry, who didn't seem nearly as surprised as they expected.

"You know something we don't Harry?" his girlfriend had narrowed her eyes at him and he knew this was dangerous ground. She hated not knowing everything.

"I don't have direct knowledge, but I agree with you father's conclusion. Voldemort was clearly involved in a magical civil war last time and it is obvious that he has been making many attempts to return. How many tries does he get? We know that there are powerful families that still support him. Isn't that a large part of the reason the headmaster tries to control my life? He wants me to play a part in the war." No one could fault Harry's statements.

Suddenly Hermione jerked upright staring at her father for a long minute before she screamed, "No!" Without another word she ran upstairs obviously crying hysterically.

Harry was halfway out of his seat when Will caught him with a raised hand. Only Hermione's respect for her father kept Harry there to listen.

"Not this time, son," he said in a calm but firm voice. It was not only the word 'son' that made Harry pay attention, but that he was beginning to trust this father figure in his life. He was already treating him as Harry had always thought a father should, but had never seen.

"How she comes back to you will tell you exactly where she stands, and she needs to figure this one out on her own."

"What is it about, though?" Harry said in a quiet voice.

Will Granger looked at the boy who had already seen more than most. He hated that he had to be the one to give the boy such news.

"We are sure that you are important to the upcoming war, if there is going to be one and which seems the most likely. It is clear from what you have said about Albus Dumbledore that he played a large part in the last one and that he thinks another one is coming. That being the case, the way he has dealt with you brings two possibilities to mind. Either you are being prepared for war or you are being prepared to be a sacrifice to gain an advantage. You are not being prepared for war."

As Mr. Granger watched, the boy's face did not change much. His expression was only a bit sterner before he commented. "Then I will have to take him with me. I honestly expect this to end with a final confrontation between me and Voldemort." Harry said firmly.

"Young man," Will said with obvious pride, "you are quite remarkable. I can see why you were put in the house of the brave."

Harry looked quite embarrassed and shrugged. "I guess I better take this all a lot more seriously if I am going to be involved in a war. I don't want my failures to hurt others," Harry said soberly. Both men knew exactly which 'others' he meant.

It was a long hour before Harry looked up and saw Hermione at the bottom of the stairs seemingly afraid to enter the room. He held out his hand toward her and she ran tearfully to him and threw her arms around him and kissed his neck.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just don't want you to die. I … don't really have any other friends." Harry listened and smiled, gently holding the girl he thought so much of.

"Hey there, I am still here," Harry said quietly in her ear.

They spent the next half hour sitting in the same chair, quietly reassuring each other about the future. The very next day they started recruiting training and tactical teams, with surprisingly good results.

After another week where Harry had spent the days in various studies and training, he noticed Hermione walking toward the kitchen, still in some pain from her petrification. Several hours after dinner that night, Harry knocked quietly on Hermione's door.

"Hmmm,' was the response. He recognized her, 'I'm reading tone of voice.'

"Hermione, can we talk?"

"Come in Harry," she had just finished her shower and was brushing out her mop.

As he came, he thought this was going to be hard. She was still wearing the light pajamas he had been embarrassed by earlier, but now the front was slightly wet, giving her a wet t-shirt appearance. He blushed, but knowing where this conversation was probably headed, went ahead.

"We never talked about finishing your healing, Hermione. I want you to get better. You know there is one thing that all our conversations have brought to mind. I am not sure that Professor Snape didn't deliberately botch your healing potion. You had a different potion from everybody else and he for some reason waited for last with yours."

"Harry, why? I am not that important. I can see him doing something to you, because he seems to hate you. But why me?"

"Because the best way to hurt me is to hurt you," Harry said with certainty.

"I don't' know… Wait. Dad said that one of the keys to controlling someone, like the headmaster seems to want to control you, is to isolate them and be sure they have to rely on you. Don't you see? If the headmaster wanted you under control badly enough, he might be willing to sacrifice me. I mean we already think me wants you to be his cannon fodder. That was part of why you starting talking about the schools on the continent, isn't it?" She threw herself at him and held him tight for a long moment and Harry was very conscious of her wet chest pressed against him. Eventually she let go and he brushed her hair back and gave her a quick kiss. He very seldom started contact and she was surprised enough to just sit there and smile a moment.

"Now, what do I have to do and where to we start?" Hermione asked obviously changing the subject back to her healing.

"Well, where does it hurt the most? Then we will just start in on the feet and hands."

"My feet have been a big problem, but it hurts to write as well." She took off her charm and he noted the grey tone of her skin looked even darker than before, but maybe it was just the light.

"Okay, then we will do both." She held out her foot and Harry shyly took it and pressed a kiss to her ankle. Then he linked his fingers between her toes as if he were holding hands and pushed his healing magic. It took a moment before his hand started to glow and it seemed like a long time before the color slowly changed on her toes and the ball of her foot where he had his palm. He moved to the arch of her foot next and repeated the process. When he managed to finish both feet and move to her hands, he was getting tired, but kept doggedly on. After that he started to try working on her face, but she looked at how tired he was and simply led him without protest to his bed.

This became a nightly habit as he put his energy into healing her in the evening, then practiced with their new tutors during the day. After the first ten day, Will Granger came to them and insisted that they take one day off per week without practicing magic or exercising or studying. They started to get into a better routine then and it was only a few weeks later that they ran into one problem with the final parts of her healing.

"Hermione, you know I love the… I mean this isn't about… " they were just to the point where he had to begin healing parts of her body that were forbidden to touch, and he was practically in tears. He thought she was the greatest and was afraid she would think he was a pervert, and he knew there was no way he wouldn't be extremely affected by this.

"Let's just go ahead and don't think about it too much," she said firmly, her own face beat red too. The next few days they spent almost all of their time at books without studying much and could barely meet each other's eyes. Finally he finished healing her body and the only part left was her hair. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite get his healing contact enough through her very thick head of hair and they were forced to go to Diagon Alley and purchase the supplies to brew a hair growth potion, then cut off all of her hair and heal her and regrow it. It made for a very long night and both teens were completely exhausted and thankful they had schedule this right before their Sunday rest day. It was a grateful pair that had finally managed an impossible magical healing.

From that day forward, Harry lost much of his self-consciousness about getting held by Hermione, which she was extremely happy about because she had decided that she liked it very much. That it was evident he found her very desirable was something that pleased her to no end although she certainly never told him of it.

The last few weeks of summer saw them getting closer without really realizing it. They were constantly together when studying but it didn't seem to be all that romantic or even talk very much. Nancy Granger even asked Hermione if they had been fighting. Hermione was quite confused by the question but denied it.

Finally the time for them to depart from each other a head to their respective schools came. Harry had grown three inches over the summer and was a great deal bigger, having been eating a proper diet. With a quiet kiss the Granger's departed for France as Harry left for the leaky cauldron.


	6. Weasley Issues

This is a partial chapter...

Weasley Issues

Harry kept up his studies while at the Leaky Cauldron faithfully, finishing occlumency and had just begun legimency when the Weasley's arrived.

"Ron, how you doing?"

"Brilliant, we went to Egypt this year. Mum won a contest, anyway. Fred and George locked me in a pyramid and I think I breathed in some of a four thousand year old mummy." Ron spent the rest of the hour talking about Egypt. Harry had a brief fight with the monster book for care of magical creatures. He also picked up the books for arithmancy and ancient runes. Ron would not be impressed. It was the next morning when the actual conflict really started.

Harry insisted on going into Gringotts with Mrs. Weasley.

"Now Harry, why don't you wait and let me get your money out and we can be on our way."

"It is my vault and I am going to it," Harry said firmly. Just when he thought she was about to explode, one of the tellers spoke up.

"Are you planning to make a withdrawal or are you just wasting our time?" his expression made it unclear whether he was angry or just scornful.

Harry approached the teller, "Sir, I am Harry Potter and I would like to make a withdrawal."

"Very well, and do you have your key?" at this Harry pointedly looked at Molly Weasley. She brought over the key and placed it in front of the goblin teller.

"Thank you," Harry said in a monotone.

"Sir, I don't believe I caught your name." Harry looked at the goblin expectantly.

"It is Rockclaw, Mr. Potter."

"It is nice to meet you Rockclaw. Is there an honorific that would be appropriate? If not perhaps you could call me Harry." Rockclaw stared at this young wizard as if he had just hatched an egg.

"There is no human word for it, Mr. Potter."

"I can only try, if it isn't too much trouble."

"It is G'rlzkt't. It roughly translates as financial ambassador."

"It sounds like an important title and position, G'rlzktut,' Rockclaw" Harry said. As first attempts go, it was excellent effort and Rockclaw smiled a complementary smile, one without showing teeth.

"I don't believe it will be necessary to accompany the boy. He will come to no harm under my care," and with that the goblin motioned Harry to follow.

"Harry!" Molly Weasley's voice could shatter glass up close. "Don't you want me with you?"

"I am quite fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said with a wave.

"But Harry, I insist on coming with you. Boys your age shouldn't have to deal with things like this."

"Why," Harry said abruptly. As soon as he said it he knew he shouldn't have. This could tip of Albus that he was questioning things.

"Because you are young and need to enjoy being just a kid and likely to spend way too much on silly things," she was beginning to get angry now. Harry was getting irritated though and thought quickly on what the woman was actually doing.

"Why are you here? I know where the bank is and I think it would be insulting after G'rlzkt't Rockclaw vouchsafed me to say I needed protection. I certainly don't need anyone telling me how to count. For that matter why are you even trying to tell me exactly what I should spend on my school supplies?" Harry's voice had risen with his temper.

"How dare you talk to your mother that way," Mrs. Weasley screamed as she crossed the intervening space in two steps and slapped him across the face.

Harry froze her with a look of pure contempt. He didn't say a word for a long moment. "Now give me that key and wait outside you insolent ungrateful young man," she barked the order as she chest heaved with anger.

"I wonder if this is why Bill and Charlie left the house? I am going to my vault without your supervision." As he left he thought for a minute she said something about 'moving up plans.'

In the corridor Rockclaw turned to Harry. "Do you want her removed from the bank? We could possibly ensure she..."

"Leave her unharmed, if you don't mind. She has sheltered me at a time when I needed it. Could I discuss some private business with you or another Gringotts representative when we return? I would like to see if you can help me make some arrangements without interference from such company." Harry's grimace made Rockclaw smirk. The boy was not just angry, but violently so. He was just waiting to explode.

"The warriors have access to a training room and possible opponents to vent your ire on, Mr. Potter." After another pause, "and you are definitely a warrior like your father."

"Thank you, but I think I won't be able to spare the time at the moment," Harry paused. He may not get another good chance at this.

"My apologies, I would be happy to use your training facilities and learn anything I can from my allies." Harry was escorted to a goblin warrior training area. He found that the tellers and diplomats he saw were far different than the warriors. He left enlightened, tired, and much more relaxed.

Soon he found himself escorted to another meeting with a senior goblin.

Harry bowed respectfully, conscious that Will Granger had been a good teacher but he missed him as his advisor for this meeting.

"I am Silverchanger, Mr. Potter and I am in charge of the legacy of House Black. Would you be willing to spend some time discussing this?"

"What would be the most polite form of address, Sir?"

"The best term would be Clok't, meaning House Builder approximately."

"Then would I be correct in believing your title, Clok't shows your ability to build and maintain a Great House and is a title of honor and ability?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter,"the goblin said warily.

"I thank you for seeing me then, Clok't Silverchanger, how may House Potter be of service today." Harry knew it didn't sound quite right, but it did make his point.

The ensuing discussion changes Harry Potter's perspective in the world and quite likely saved his life. After nearly an hour of discussions concerning his finances and the general politics of the wizarding world, Harry was actually grateful to be escorted into what was obviously a training area.

The room was easily the size of a tennis court and housed only a dozen training goblins and, surprisingly, three wizards and a witch. His goblin escort sent him to a corner where one of the wizards sat at a desk looking bored. As he walked across the open area, Harry was surprised to see something akin to a punching back in one corner and one of the wizards was striking it with extreme force making it jump on impact. The blows were magically enhanced, Harry guessed.

"Ah, you must be Harry Potter," the kindly looking older wizard said offering his hand. He was surprised that the boy shook it firmly but his eyes remained wary.

"I am Ledger Grant. Why are you in the training ground, Mister Potter?"

Harry didn't answer but observed the goblin steward of the room who was carefully keeping an eye on the occupants.

"Mister Potter," the steward somehow understood his concern. "Everyone here is wholly dedicated to Gringotts' bank and their oaths to that bank will not allow anything that happens here to be broadcast to anyone else."

"Sorry, is Ledger your name or some sort of title?"

A low chuckle sounded as replied, "an interesting observation, Mister Potter. I would have to say that in my case it is both. I am now officially a Ledger and that is also now my name. My birth name was given over to accept this honor." Harry heard the pride of the title in his voice and it was evident he was happy with whatever change had come about.

"Okay, Ledger, I would like to know how ready I am to fight, and this is supposed to be where that happens. Can you help me with that?"

"Certainly, Mister Potter, I am quite versed in training for defense."

"Good, I'm sorry, but I have had a bad day and it would help if I could let off a bit." Harry admitted.

"Well I know just the thing." What followed was the most instructive magical workout Harry had ever experienced. He was exhausted both physically and magically when he finished. Fortunately he was also relaxed.

As he left the bank he noted that the entire Weasley family was waiting for him. He took a deep breath and marched forward to do his shopping. He had originally expected to meet Hermione here, but they decided that it was too dangerous to be seen together until their plans were put into action.

"Mr. Weasley," Harry shook his hand, noticing that the family seemed to be holding their breath. Ron in particular looked upset. "I am pleased that you are here, actually." Harry's voice left little doubt that he was not pleased at the moment.

"Aren't you head of house?" Harry's question surprised the gentle Arthur.

"Yes, of course. But I don't need to keep any family business from my family."

"That is of course your decision, but I need to have a private word with you, sir." Harry sounded quite insistent.

"Harry, nothing serious I am sure," he tried to make light of the somber tone coming from the young lad.

"Ah, but it is. Can we have this discussion today or would you prefer I just handle it through owl?"

"Of course we can talk. Molly, young Harry and I are going to have a word, why don't you get to the shopping before the best items are sold." Ignoring Molly's sputtering he took Harry into the Leaky Cauldron and was surprised when Harry asked for a private room to talk.

"Good," Harry said after ordering a Pumpkin juice. "I would like to officially thank the Weasley family for giving me a place to stay when I needed it last year. You have given me a great look at what a family should be like. I can't come over this year, but I would like to ask you a favor."

Arthur was surprised, but answered with the heart he always showed. "Sure Harry, anything."

"This won't be easy. I don't like to owe people stuff, Mr. Weasley. So to keep my conscience clean I need your help."

"Okay."

"You need to accept a token thank you gift for your help. You gave me part of your home and fed me. I am returning a very small appreciation gift to you and I just ask that you don't fight me over it."  
Arthur nodded, not knowing what Harry meant until he quietly pushed a bank draft over to him for 700 galleons.

"That is too much, Harry. You can't afford…"

"Stop! You said you would do me a favor and this is the first part of it. Accept that. The next piece isn't so easy. Today in the bank Molly argued with me about whether I could even go to my own vault and keep my vault key. She then did something I will never allow again. She said she was my mother and slapped me for being a brat. I will ignore this offence if you write this out a statement saying that you don't owe me anything and I don't owe your family anything."

Arthur was pale. If this lad had any idea how much trouble he could get Molly in for that attack then he could practically own the family.

"I will take care of that immediately." Harry again surprised him by getting a parchment and quill and waiting until the letter was complete and then had Arthur sign the bank draft before they both got up and shook hands.

"You're a good man, Harry," Arthur said quietly.

Knowing how his family would respond, Arthur decided to say nothing about this deal now. He was sure Molly would throw a fit all the while being worried about being able to afford the school supplies they needed.

"Should this happen again," Harry said in a calm manner, "I will be less polite."

A short time later Harry left the alley unseen by anyone, he chuckled as he was apparated away by Dobby. This was the last time for almost a year that anyone in Britain saw Harry Potter.


	7. A Poor Start

"May I announce the lovely ladies of Beauxbaton's Academy in France?" the headmaster announced.

Every eye turned as a group of older teen girls walked into the great hall in a double line. The cut of their robes made the Hogwarts uniform look amateur at best. Their faces shone with the glow of health. With faint smiles they seemed to flow gracefully to the right and gestured toward the Gryffindor table as beautifully conjured butterflies leaped in joy from their outstretched hands. They minced forward a few steps and repeated this gesture to the Ravenclaw table. The ladies aforementioned took every effort to make sure they kept their feminine mystic intact while at the same time almost flaunting their charms. Several were of note even among such company, not the least of which was Fleur Delacour. The other girl, however, is the one who made the biggest impact on the Hogwarts students. Tucked in toward the back of the group was elegant lady who appeared somewhat younger than the rest. She had long flowing golden brown hair that cascaded in a veritable waterfall down her back. She carried herself with more assurance than most of the ladies and her hazel-brown eyes saw everything that went on around her without ever seeming to meet another's gaze or dart about. She was easily one of the prettiest girls in the entire hall. As ladies began heading toward the Ravenclaw table, Lavender gasped aloud, "Granger?" identifying the familiar face to the rest of those who were less quick on the uptake.

Hermione, for her part, spent more time reflecting on her most recent conversation with the headmistress of Beauxbaton's.

"You know I am doing you a great favor by letting you attend this tournament, Ms. Granger."

"Yes ma'am, I greatly appreciate it."

"I will expect you to be on your best behavior and not fall into the disreputable conduct I have heard so much about at Hogwarts. That means no boisterous conduct or trips to that abominable forest. No going into other dorms without an adult present, and an of age students does not count."

"Yes, ma'am, I understand."

"I do not doubt your understanding, Miss Granger, I doubt your commitment to proper deportment."

Hermione stood there, unable to say anything else. She wanted to go to this event so badly it hurt. She was hoping to meet someone special there and needed to start by getting the Headmistress's permission before it was even a remote possibility.

Every male head in Ravenclaw looked at her at this announcement but she appeared not to notice as she said something in French to the dark haired witch at her side. They both laughed a moment. Thinking for a moment that the hall couldn't get more excited, Roger Davies looked over toward Granger and attempted to talk to her. He wouldn't have given her a kiss to save her life in second year, but this girl was different and he definitely wanted to know her better, soon.

"Granger, what happened to you? You look fabulous," the voice came from some boy she couldn't see at the table and she ignored it. She hadn't wanted to enjoy this so much and she certainly hadn't been trying to look like a princess, but the Beauxbaton school robes simply looked that much better than Hogwarts' did.

"Now, the young men of Durmstrang," the headmaster said. The timbre of his voice rattled against her emotions giving her a slightly ill feeling. Hermione watched the Durmstrang students enter. They made a much more physical entrance, using their sticks in an odd parody of martial arts with the exception of one boy who was spinning his staff and at the same time he did a few front flips finally landing almost straight legged on the stone floor and froze as though turned into a rock himself. He had and Aryan look to him with dark blond hair and crystal blue eyes. She ignored the famous Viktor Krum as the boys turned to go to their table instead watching the lad who had given such a performance. He walked with an odd stride as if he ready spring away at any moment. He moved with a powerful grace, but mostly his stance and expression screamed 'predator.' She wouldn't want to be locked in any close room with him, ever.

She was glad that Krum had come in afterwards the girls to distract everyone because she didn't like the attention that much. After noticing some of the boys almost tripping over themselves to get closer to her and her companions she was got to sleep on the carriage. The questions were getting quite personal and she had no desire to address any of them.

The meeting for the other schools was surprisingly smooth and Albus Dumbledore was once again back in control. His recalcitrant student was back in the castle, according to the special wards he had placed, and it was just a matter of time before he would be able to be used to target the enemy. He also had to gain control of the boy's father's friends, Sirius and Remus. Both were being particularly obstinate. No matter, both were considered dark by the ministry and he would do nothing to alleviate that problem. Perhaps it could be used as a carrot to entice the boy to go back to the Dursley's, he needed to be softened up. He would have to be creative to claim the wards were still working at all, but he would come up with something, he was Albus Dumbledore. Now if he could only find out where the boy was, it was infuriating. He guessed some sort of disguise, but none of the students were anything like Harry Potter. He thought about the fifth year from France that has some of the same look. He would check into it.

While this meeting was taking place another meeting was happening in an unused classroom. The student everyone was trying to find, Harry Potter, was sitting in the room reading a book as though waiting for the next train. He was significantly different than the young second year who had left over a year ago. You would never have been able to tell how nervous he was just by watching him. This meeting had been a long time coming.

Finally the door opened and a Beauxbaton's student entered, her fancy robes indicating a lady and the eyes that followed her from the great hall likely showed that the boys thought she was quite pretty. Hermione ignored most of it, though, since she was on a mission. Finding the indicated classroom she flung open the door then checked on the identity of the person she most wanted to see. Instead of running and jumping on him as she wanted to she kept to her training and walked over to the now intently staring fourteen year old. His smile warmed her clear to her toes. She still wasn't sure how serious he was about their betrothal contract, but she wanted to see how it would play out. Her emotions were on pins and needles.

She did walk right up to him as he opened his arms. "Wow Harry, you've grown a lot," Hermione hugged him as hard as she could and was surprised at how solid he seemed.

For Harry's part he just held her tight for a long time before she finally wriggled free, a soft smile on her face.

"It just wasn't the same without a hug," Harry said quickly, surprising his betrothed.

'He usually wasn't much for physical contact,' Hermione thought.

"Just with you, Hermione."

"Did you just use legimency on me?" she said in mock anger.

"No, but your thought was predictable. I know I had a chance to do a bit of growing up lately, and as hard as the time apart from you was, I learned a lot. I was the top student in my year for the entire second half," he had to let her know just how hard he had worked to make her happy.

"I am so proud of you, maybe we can study together, I will need to be with the Ravenclaws most of the time," she stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. He looked a bit surprised and quite pleased. They had never really done much physical, even though they were betrothed over a year now.

"But my group is with Slytherin, I will see what I can do. You know the surprising thing, I got really good with potions," Harry said quietly, taking her hand.

"Snape will pitch a fit. Don't tell me you are planning to make a scene. I thought the goal was to try to integrate and begin training others for the upcoming war."

"True, but with such a security leak, we thought we should at least close down some of the information bleeding, so I will need your help."

"What do I need to do?"

"Well, I won't get you involved in it yet. We need to keep my cover intact."

"Aren't you going to tell me exactly who you are?" He chuckled and she wasn't sure if she should be upset or not.

"Not at present. I don't believe you are a great liar, Hermione, and that isn't a bad thing. Besides, I have something special for a few friends here. I'd rather keep this secret the entire year. The only thing that bothers me is the ball. I expect there to be one and really want a chance to take you out like that."

She tried to keep the expectation from her voice, failing spectacularly, and answered his unasked question. "You don't need to take me out now, you know, we have years to work this out if we keep things as they are." Her insecurities about this betrothal for safety reasons kept her from really knowing what to expect.

"How is your training going?" he asked. She spent some time talking about the various trainers she had received as special instruction while in France, paid for by her betrothed.

"You are obviously doing well, aren't you?" she semi-asked.

"I am pretty good, actually. Once we started using recovery potions it allowed so much more training to get done in a short period of time. I would say I got in two years of training in last holiday and another two before school started this year, not to mention the special tutor at Durmstrang. It feels like five years not one. I missed you so much." He held her close and finally just stayed there holding his girl, like any other young man in love.

Hermione had been just holding on for almost an hour, and she didn't want to let go.

"How long do you think we should keep this quiet?" he asked. He knew there was little chance for his dream of keeping it a secret in reality.

"Let's wait until right around the cup selection, that way the announcement will get everyone's attention off of us," Hermione added.

"Great idea. Beautiful, brilliant, and wise. What's not to love?" Harry said sincerely, just getting a closer snuggle for his complements.

Hermione the bookworm, who had not expected to have a love life of any sort for years, if at all, was the happiest of witches. Harry had gone to great lengths to keep in touch with her while they had been separated. She had received gifts quietly at least once a month, and a very special birthday gift while she had been attending Beauxbaton's Academy. Not only was Harry here at Hogwarts for this silly tournament, he was growing in every aspect. He studied diligently, worked relentlessly on surviving the fact that the Dark Lord wanted him dead, and had more confidence when dealing with her and the world. If she hadn't already been falling for him, she would have started now. It didn't help that he had a new name and new face while studying in Bulgaria, and that he seemed to be quite popular among the girls already. She wasn't sure which one he was, but she had her suspicions.

Sarac entered the hall and sat at the Ravenclaw table, presumably to keep Viktor from complaining. Cho immediately made extra room for him between her and Fleur, but he went to the other side and stood beside Hermione Granger and Marietta Edgecomb.

"Miss Granger, Miss Edgecomb, may I take this seat?" Marietta was shocked that he knew her name and both girls blushed at his overly formal manner. "My apologies, I am Kendall Sarac," he extended his hand to Marietta and she shook it. Doing the same to Hermione, he quickly grabbed her hand and turned it over and kissed the palm gently.

"Your academic accomplishments precede you, Miss Granger." The shocked looks at the Ravenclaw table were quite amusing to Kendall as he sat down next to the two girls. Just a few seats down Fleur Delacour sat amazed. She had always been the first girl greeted when in a crowd, at least when she was easily seen. This boy had just not only ignored her existence, but actively flirted with one and possibly two other quite plain witches in front of her. Her frown was noticed by most of the boys at the table, and a few even guessed at its source.

As dinner progressed, Fleur couldn't help herself but to try to get this interesting boy's attention. With a casual flip of her hair to draw attention to the silky locks, she said in that voice that seems to excite most men, "Mister Kendall, is it true you are unable to be controlled by the imperious curse?" While almost everyone had heard the story, the boy had made it clear he was not interested in talking about it.

"Miss Granger," Kendall said with a smile, "what is your school mate's name that addressed me so familiarly in our first conversation?"

"Oh, Mister Sarac, that is Mlle. Fleur Delacour," Hermione proffered.

"Could you let her know that I am unlikely to appreciate those who pry into my personal life?" Without another word he turned as started asking Miss Edgecomb something particularly involved about the charms class the fifth year students were studying.

The next day was Slytherin Potions with Gryffindor. Harry put on his 'Kendall Sarac' face and stood tall. This would be fun.

As the students filed in, Professsor Snape didn't even bother with an introduction. He did look up and see the despised Granger.

"Miss Granger, couldn't you have stayed with your own school? I was distinctly pleased that you chose to leave Hogwarts," the sneer could be heard in his voice by a deaf man.

"The headmaster asked me to try this schedule, Professor. I can tell him he made a mistake if you prefer," her head was held high and several of the boys thought she never looked so good.

"Don't disrupt my class further."

"The instructions are on the board." The potions master watched the Durmstrang student for a minute, who seemed to have taken charge from the capable Daphne Greengrass. He couldn't quite hear their whispered comments as they worked efficiently together.

A full quarter hour before anyone else had finished, Daphne brought her potion up to the front for grading. It was perfect.

"It is good to know that someone can follow simple instructions, ten points to Slytherin, Miss Greengrass. Why don't you explain what you did to the dunderheads and introduce your fellow student."

"Oh, I just did what he said. I'm not sure I got all of it, but it had to do with ingredient freshness and such."

Hermione just finished adding her last ingredient and was waiting the proscribed thirteen minutes before the final stir when Daphne offered her explanation. 'When did Daphne try to act like a dumb blonde?' she thought, then seeing her look toward her partner with hope, explained it.

By the time class was almost over, Professor Snape couldn't wait and walked over to unknown student. He had just finished thoroughly scrubbing his cauldron and putting his and Miss Greengrass' ingredients away.

"Would you like to tell the class what you did to create your exemplary potion? Miss Greengrass seemed to miss some of the finer points."

"I can explain to the class if you like, professor. I wouldn't want to disrupt anything, however," the boy spoke with a light Bulgarian accent.

At the professor's nod he began while all of the witches and most of the wizards listened intently.

"I did the basic maintenance of my cauldron, then examined the ingredients list and directions. I noticed that someone had been slighted on their dung beetles since the shells were showing signs of age. Determining that they were approximately ten percent depleted, I added another half to the mixture and stirred it seven more turns for thoroughness. When I saw the color change start I added the powdered asphodel to ensure it wasn't clumped. The rest was simply following instructions."

"Excellent work, I believe you have the talent to do well in potions. Perhaps you can show the other students how to read the directions."

"Yes professor. I thank you for your complements. I think it was much better than last time."

"Last time?" the professor scowled

"One of my last professors believed I was not cut out for the subject." Severus sensed something was wrong, but was not sure what he replied.

"Then they did not know how to teach," he finally added. "I would like to… I don't believe I caught your name."

"I apologize, professor for not introducing myself. Kendall Sarac. I hope to enjoy your class while I am staying here." No one said a word as the boy simply whispered something to Daphne that caused her to blush. Then gathered his things and left the classroom.

It was the next day that Ron Weasley finally managed to catch up to Hermione in the hall as she walked with Susan Bones to the library.

"Hey, Hermy, what are you doing back? You decided to enroll in a real school again?" Ron smiled

"Hello Ron, are you speaking to me again? I understood you refused to even write over the summer." She wasn't going to give him much slack, since she has written three times and finally given up.

"Hey, you know I'm not good with all that writing stuff. Speaking of which, aren't you sitting with the 'claws now? Since all those smarts are together, do you think you could help me on my History and Potions essays? They are hard this year."

"Ron, I have all the Hogwarts coursework to do, extra work to keep up with my Beauxbaton's courses and I have some family business that takes a lot of my time as well. I won't have time to write any material for you. Good day, Ronald, I'm glad you stopped by to catch up."

Hermione was studying in the library when, again, rereading an old letter she had received from Harry the previous year. It wasn't labeled as such, unfortunately, but they had learned write between the lines in their messages, just in case they were intercepted. This one though made her afraid. That the Durmstrang Headmaster was a convicted Death Eater had her more worried than she believe possible. How Harry knew she wasn't sure, but his facts had all checked out in the past.

_Dear one,_

_I just came from sitting in a heated room with ice packs on my feet for blisters and joint damage. This is just one of the injuries I have sustained in my beginning combat class. The quiet man who teaches it expects instant obedience and I try to do what he wants, but it is always harder than you would expect. I will be living daily in this environment and only get an hour a day to write to you. I am already missing you more than I expected. To better understand how my training works, imagine if Professor Snape was given complete control over every part of your training while you are expected to hear and understand first time no matter what._

_I am too tired to write more, I hope your studies are going well and I have heard that someone is arranging defense classes for you. I know it will be hard but I want to at my side and the only way I can live with that is if you can really handle yourself in a fight. We both know it won't be long before much bigger fish are trying to take a bite out of me. My luck would have it no other way._

_Most sincerely yours,_

_H._

She had a sudden shudder and looked up to see Viktor Krum standing at her table.

"You are Miss Granger, yes?" his introduction was nonexistent, she noticed. She realized he was correct in assuming everyone knew his name, but the social niceties she learned in Beauxbaton's came to the front, not to mention something Harry had said in a recent letter about silence being the hardest thing for most people to deal with in a confrontation. She simply stared at him.

"I would like you to come to the Hogsmead weekend with me." Hermione frowned slightly. This wasn't necessarily a polite request but a 'you have a great opportunity here,' statement.

"That's nice," she said simply, knowing he would misunderstand.

"I will wait for you by the ship," he responded.

"No. I am not planning to go into Hogsmead this weekend."

"What then are your plans?"

"My time is my own, Mister Krum, and you may not speak for it." She stood suddenly and walked out of the library, completely baffling several Hogwarts witches who heard the entire thing.

This scene was repeated three more times the next week before she lost her temper a bit.

"Mister Krum, I am not available to go anywhere with you, not even to the great hall for dinner. I have been good about my refusal, but my friend has told me that some men need to be told. I am not interested and I never will be. Do not ask me again. Good day." Both students heard a noise and were shocked to see another Durmstrang student standing in the aisle, having just cleared his throat.

"I believe the lady has made her point. This is the last time I will allow you to dishonor her opinion, Viktor." By his tone he had managed to make the name out to be something inconsequential.

"This is none of your business," Viktor nearly spat at the boy. Surprisingly there was absolutely no change in the boy's manner at that statement.

If Kendall was planning to keep a low profile, he was doing a poor job of it.

In the great hall, several students were almost falling over themselves trying to get a look at the only student in the school that could throw off the imperious curse. His name was Kendall Sarac from Durmstrang and the rumors had difficulty deciding whether he was in fifth year or sixth. He was rumored to have started private dueling lessons with Professor Flitwick. The boy under such scrutiny was currently sitting in the library, looking over some books from the restricted section.

Just as he was getting into a difficult tome on apparation theory, he noticed someone quietly moving onto his table. Looking up, he saw a bookish girl with frizzy hair and a determined expression. She wore Beauxbaton robes and carried her books held to her chest, which gave him just a hint of the kind of figure she had. As he scanned the rest of the library, he saw that most of the other tables in the area were filled with groups of Ravenclaws and their new friends from France.

"May I use a corner of your table?" Hermione was a bit shy and didn't want him to think she was coming on to him. She was also concerned that he was the boy she thought was possibly quite dark in nature.

"By all means," his voice rumbled in the low register. She was a bit concerned about that smile. She was betrothed, after all, and her fiancé would not be one to take such things well. He was quite protective.

They spent the next few hours deep in their books before he asked a question.

"Miss, are you familiar with Persian runes?" he said with a light Bulgarian accent.

"Yes, they are part of the Mesopotamian set. Is there something you need?" she suddenly flushed, knowing that could be misconstrued.

"Perhaps you also know something of systemic division of a single equation into a fourth degree equation?" this would be fifth year or sixth, depending on the Hogwarts teacher.

"Yes, it isn't my best suit, but it isn't hard." She looked again at his expression. Something about this young man was pulling at her, and she hoped it was just basic attraction and not something more sinister. She cast a silent charm detection on herself and noticed nothing except the tracking charm the headmaster had put on her earlier. She ignored it for now.

"You have been hiding, Miss. What from?" The question was as out of nowhere as to have her stare blankly at him for almost a minute. She was about to reply when she saw Victor Krum plop himself down at the next table. Several girls immediately moved to the closest tables to be able to see him.

"That would be my cue." He rose and carefully put each of his books back and brushed uncomfortably close to her as he walked by. "I wish I had time to talk more, Mia."

Suddenly a light dawned on her, the body language and way he looked at her. Now his calling her the pet name only Harry was privy to or allowed to even think enlightened her. She almost called his name, but a slight shake of his head, he was gone. She saw no less than three girls try to follow him. He was widely popular for not only being an unknown, but cleaning up in classes, some even above his year, according to the talk. Her smile was carefully kept on the inside for now. She had figured out who her boyfriend was all on her own and he was even more interesting than she had expected.

Viktor Krum had few good friends at Beauxbaton's school and even less enemies. Unfortunately there was one student who seemed to always rub him the wrong way, and that was Kendall Sarac. The bad blood between the two Durmstrang students was once again coming to the surface and Viktor was being told off by the younger student in the great hall.

"I don't care if you think the girl hung the moon and is standing there starkers," Sarac's voice carried easily to the staff table, but Kakarov wasn't there and no one else had the authority to intervene.

"You are a disgrace to wizards everywhere," Krum sputtered.

"When a girl makes it clear she isn't interested, a gentleman will leave her alone."

"She is just a… Oh, you're not worth my time." Viktor stormed out of the great hall. Only one person who had witnessed the event realized that Viktor Krum was quite likely afraid of the younger student.

It was the last anyone saw of Viktor until Halloween, when the Goblet of Fire would make its choice.

Halloween had always been the worst day in Harry Potter's life. He currently sat at the Slytherin table under the guise of Kendall and was talking to Tracy Davis about her trip on the wild side with some dark spells, he subconsciously tried to ignore just what day it was. She had been trying to get him interested in her, but so far he had made it clear he wasn't going to be asking her out without being so rude as to say it aloud.

They all listened as the Headmaster waxed eloquent about the tournament and how much good it would do the participant.

Finally the first name came out of the cup, "for Durmstrang, Viktor Krum." For reason's known to few, Viktor gave Kendall a smug look before going to the front and standing by the Durmstrang Headmaster. Everyone applauded, even most of the Gryffindor table, for the famous seeker.

A dainty piece of paper then was thrown from the cup and Professor Dumbledore caught it in his hand. "For the Beauxbaton's school the champion will be Fleur Delacour." There was a great deal of applause for the pretty girl, especially from the boys. Harry as Kendall merely clapped politely, ignoring the fact that almost the entire Slytherin table had failed to applaud the French Veela as she joined her headmistress at the front of the room.

"The next name," the headmaster was enjoying the spotlight, actually, as he took the third name out of the air. "The next name is Cedric Diggory, champion for Hogwarts." Albus Dumbledore was quite please and ignored the raucous screams and cheers from the Hufflepuff table.

"Well done, Cedric. Well done." He waited for the popular boy to join him in the front. "Now we can all cheer our champions and …" suddenly there was another flash of light from the magical goblet and another motion caused the headmaster to reach for the object in flight.

"Harry Potter," the Albus Dumbledore looked at the paper perplexed. He had just barely discarded the idea of putting the boy's name in the goblet but evidently the lad had outflanked him. He wondered if he missed the spotlight.

"Harry Potter!" Albus was getting cross, not only had the boy managed to elude him for a year and a half, but he had shown up at Hogwarts and no one had known about it. Since Harry was sitting in the hall under a different name, he couldn't exactly just walk up to the front. Fortunately, Ron Weasley came to the rescue, not that he knew that, however.

"That glory hounding, arrogant, poofter. I am going to pound the little snot until his toes bleed. Where is he?" A small firecracker went off in the middle of the hall that no one, not even Moody, had seen. Just then the great doors where thrown open and Harry Potter himself walked into the room.

"You bellowed, Professor?" Harry said with a slight frown. He was not ready for this and wanted no part of this stupid tournament. Everyone took in the muggle clothing that gave a much better impression of the person than robes, and it was obvious that little Harry had grown up.

"Harry, please join the other champions."

"Yeah you stupid tosser," Ron yelled from the side.

"Now headmaster, why should I do that?" Harry was seething inside.

"Your name came out of the goblet," Albus said simply.

"Then your goblet is broken." There was a sudden uproar from the room as everyone started talking at once.

"Silence," the headmaster's amplified voice bounced around the room until it grew quiet.

"Harry, please join the other champions."

"Can everyone in this room count? Hermione, who are the other champions?"

"Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons, and Viktor Krum for Durmstrang," Hermione said from the Ravenclaw table.

"So then who am I? We already have a champion for each school. We already have three champions for the tri-wizard tournament. I am not one of them, I don't want to be one of them, and I refuse to be one of them."

"But the cup," Albus began.

"Is wrong… the thing can't even stop counting at three, and you have failed again to protect the students at this school. You have my signature on pieces of paper for every time I turned in an assignment for two years. It is not surprising someone could come up with a signature."

"Enough! Go into that room and we will discuss it."

"No," Harry said defiantly. No one was sure who drew first, but the headmaster clearly got off the first spell, but was surprised that Harry had started moving before it was even cast. He leaped high in the air, casting a cutting curse and a disarming curse before hitting the ground. The headmaster's spell just missed his lower foot and he was caught by the simple disarming spell as Harry snatched the wand from the air with ease.

Harry was not stupid, however and dropped to the floor the instant he landed, the spells from the headmaster's backup wand flew over his head. The shield he put up next impressed everyone who knew anything about advanced shields not only with its size and placement, but with its color, indicating the strength of the protection.

There was a resounding clanging as the next two spells hit the shield with the force of a pile driver. It flashed with each impact, but held. Suddenly Harry dropped to the ground senseless. You could have heard a pin drop when Hermione stood and looked into the eyes of Ronald Weasley with enough contempt to curdle milk. With a flick of her wrist in a slapping motion, everyone in the hall heard a loud slap and Ron was flipped backwards over the bench and rolled over groaning.

Hermione looked down and saw blazing green eyes looking back. Harry seemed almost ready to break the spell by sheer force of will. She cast the enervating spell and then knelt to help him up. The fire in the young man's eyes made more than one of the adults wince. As everyone watched, she said a few words to him and one of the eavesdropping spells Professor Snape managed to sneak in heard only 'plan S.'

He looked down to not show surprise that the foolish boy had any sort of plan, but it was undoubtedly his voice, not Granger's.

No one was surprised that it was Hermione's voice that said, "the next person that fires a spell at Harry is going to get dropped, hard." Professor Flitwick noticed the dueling position of her wand appreciatively. Evidently she had been taking extra lessons.

"Professor, we will attend your meeting under protest and this should not be considered a commitment to participate in this tournament," Hermione said with fervor.

"Miss Granger…" Albus began.

"Headmaster, I want at least one person in that room I trust. You are not that person, partly for obvious reasons." Professor McGonagall started to stand for just a second, then reflected back on the number of times she had ignored Harry's needs in favor of Albus.' If Harry knew even a small portion of them then he wasn't going to trust her anytime soon.


	8. Many Opinions

Harry offered his arm to Hermione and she quickly took it, pausing for a second to look directly at him. They seemed to have a long conversation in that ten second look and then they followed the other champions into the side room with their respective heads of the school. Their obvious comfort with each other had several students wondering if they were officially a couple.

"Miss Granger, you are not a champion, what are you doing here?" Madam Maxime said in irritation.

"My apologies, Madam, my loyalties to Mister Potter come before my loyalties to our school. He has requested my support."

"What is the meaning of this, Albus?" Maxime said, gesturing to the boy standing there looking quietly at the upset adults.

"Harry, my boy, did you put your name in the goblet?" Headmaster Dumbledore asked urgently.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, if I may ask, why are you so concerned about my potential enrollment in a ministry sponsored event? Cedric Diggory is the Hogwarts Champion."

"Harry, I am concerned about your welfare."

"Then get me out of this tournament. I have made it quite clear that I did not enter, Professor, and I stand by that as a fact. I find it interesting that you should try to coerce me into this dangerous course of action. Oh, and about the rest of your concern, I will be expecting an apology for attacking me without provocation. It did show the other schools one of the reasons why I have chosen to seek education elsewhere, however."

"You arrogant brat, you are speaking to the …"

"To the man to just attacked me in front of hundreds of witnesses, and you are just showing another reason I have no interest in re-enrolling in Hogwarts." Harry cut Snape off. "Normally I would have turned this over to local law enforcement."

"Why didn't you do that, my boy?" Albus said with a sly twinkle in his eye. He was pretty sure one of the loyalty charms in the room had managed to attach itself to the boy.

"Because I expect the law to do the same thing it always does, cater to the great Albus Dumbledore whether it is legal or not." Leaving that little bombshell, Harry decided to move on as he watched Alastor Moody enter.

"Where have you been, boy?" Professor Snape barked. "I spent way too much time looking for you because you ran away like a petulant infant."

"Why would I report my 'away from school' location to anyone in this room?" Harry countered.

"I am responsible for you, Harry," Dumbledore said with a smug smile.

"Exactly when did my parents give the right to interfere control my life over to you, Professor?" Harry's temper was beginning to show and Hermione squeezed his arm to help calm him.

"I care about all the students that attend Hogwarts."

"Liar! Why do you tell everyone here why you have taken such an interest in House Potter? Or perhaps you will just tell House Potter, why you have taken such an interest in me? I was ignored for almost a decade and suddenly I am important?"

"Harry, you weren't ignored. I had someone watching you to ensure your safety. I believe you spent some time with her on several occasions, a Mrs. Figg."

"Well, I think this is enough about me, why doesn't someone tell me about the other champions, just in case I can't get out of this travesty." Harry calmed a surprising amount as he turned to the rest of the people in the room.

"Harry, where have you been staying?" the Hogwarts headmaster was still pushing for more information.

"Before I answer any question, can someone tell me how I can end up being in a tournament I did not enter?"

"Why you lying little brat." Harry felt the stirrings of a legimency probe and shored up his defenses.

"You accuse me of being a liar, Professor Snape, practically every time you say anything about me. I wonder why. The hostility started the very first time you spoke to me, so I have trouble believing I started it. I mean I was just a first year and hadn't said a word to you before."

"Harry, it would be good to forgive your enemies." Albus said reflexively.

"Thank you for pointing that out to me, Headmaster Dumbledore, I wasn't sure before, but now I know he is my enemy." The headmaster became extremely agitated at this, but the boy kept talking. "I would like to know what the ministry's position is on my being forced into a tournament I am not old enough to enter. Mister Bagman?"

"Yes. Let me see. The tournament rules are clear. If your name comes out of the cup you must compete or lose your magic."

"Oh, if that is all," Harry said with a smirk. "I could go back to being treated like dirt in the muggle world as easily as I could here. Perhaps I won't be risking my life as often there."

"You must compete, is what I meant," Mr. Bagman was no fool. Harry Potter leaving the magical world would have dire consequences for anyone who was accused of causing such an event.

"And what does Albus Dumbledore say on that subject?" Moody said abruptly.

"Harry, my boy, you must compete. There is no other choice." Albus Dumbledore put as much effort into convincing Harry of this as he had in any plea in his life. It would be an unmitigated disaster if the boy left the magical world.

"This little boy cannot compete, he is too young." Fleur's quiet nature finally was overridden by the unfairness of it all. She was shocked to see how this boy handled the entire mess. He hadn't raised his voice at the accusations, but she was even more surprised to see that Miss Granger was on his side. She knew of the girl and her reputation as a student was already quite impressive.

"Perhaps the idea that this is another attempt on Harry's life does have merit," Professor Snape said as if thinking aloud. He was sure this is what Dumbledore wanted. "We can use it to find out who is making this attempt." Several heads, including Moody's nodded at this, as did Bagman and Karkaroff.

"I don't want another champion, it is an unfair contest," Krum finally added his opinion.

"Each school should get two champions if he is allowed to compete."

"We cannot add more names to the Goblet now, the entrants have already been picked and the fire is out," Bagman's voice raised at the implication that he change what had already been drawn.

"No school can have two champions," Karkaroff yelled.

"The Goblet wouldn't allow that. It would take a very powerful spell to convince it to bring out Mister Potter's name in the first place. He must have been entered under a fourth school," Moody barked to Igor.

Harry turned to Hermione, who had been busy scribbling on a parchment for the last ten minutes and had another dictaquill that was actually recording all conversations in the room. Her quiet demeanor had meant that most people ignored her at the moment. Without a word being spoken between them she handed him a slip of parchment.

"If I am forced into this tournament, there are the privileges that we understand each of the champions have. It would be necessary that I receive the same treatment. I hope you agree that our requests are reasonable?" There were nods around and Snape sneering at him as usual.

"First, since each champion is allowed use of the Hogwarts library and allowed to attend classes without the need for exams, I would like the same privileges." There were nods of agreement.

"Please say whether you agree or not aloud. I don't want anything being misunderstood," Harry said to the three Headmasters. All of them including Bagman said 'yes,' with Karkaroff muttering something like 'very well,' with some profanity added.

"Second, every student that is a champion and their immediate companions are age seventeen and are allowed access to the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. The only companion I anticipate needing is Hermione, who has demonstrated her responsibility multiple times in the past."

There were more agreements and Hermione noted them down.

"Third is the protection of the Champions from attacks from those outside their schools. Both in their temporary housing and at Hogwarts, indeed this includes anywhere they meet students or staff from the other schools. I believe we should all have not only protection against attacks, but the ability for the champion and their companions to defend themselves."

There were more agreements, since it was widely known that the schools didn't trust each other and sabotage had been frequent in other tournaments.

"Finally, I expect to be treated with the same respect the other champions are treated."

"Potter, always wanting special treatment, well you are nothing special," Snape sputtered before he was cut off by Albus.

"I believe those are all reasonable, Harry."

"Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore. I will continue looking into the rules, which I assume you have already made available?" he said as a question. See that he had no intention of answering the question, Harry continued. "For the record, is there a copy of the rules for each school and may I have a copy?"

"I have given the other schools a copy of the necessary information." Dumbledore said it as though that was the end of the matter.

"It seems I am being punished for something I had no control over, again."

"Surely you aren't going to let him get away with this," Snape was about to burst.

"He shouldn't receive anything the champions get because he is a cheater," Krum said loudly.

"There should have a penalty for his dishonesty," Fleur added, her Headmistress nodding behind her. Harry shook his head. He thought they had already been through that but it became clear that not even the great Albus Dumbledore really believed him.

The call for censure and other penalties was loud and it took everything Harry had not to let loose some of his pent up anger before he left the discussion. At one point Professor Snape was practically spitting in his face and only Hermione tugging on his arm kept Harry from escalating the verbal confrontation into a battle. Finally they managed to get free of the room where the rest of the champions were consulting with the head of their respective schools.

As the two fourth year students reentered the Great Hall, they saw dozens of students still hanging about talking to their friends about the exciting turn of events. The commented ran the gambit of topics, but centered on Harry.

'Harry Potter was back.'

'He entered himself into the tournament for seventh year students.'

'He is going to be even more famous.'

'He looks really good compared to the last time I saw him.'

'How did he get here?'

'What school is he attending?'

'He is a filthy cheater.'

'Why is Granger draped across his arm like that?' was the question from a Hufflepuff third year girl.

The person at the heart of many of these conversations completely ignored everyone and sat down next to his partner at an open spot among the tables.

"Well this is one thing I don't think any of us expected," Harry said bitterly. He had worked so hard the last year and a half to start taking control of his life and be prepared for just about anything. Having a magical artifact suddenly decide you have a binding contract with it wasn't one of those predictions.

Hermione put her other hand on his shoulder, patting him in a way some would have found condescending, but the result was calming. Several students thought about approaching the couple to either ask questions or accuse Harry, but their heads were low and their backs to everyone else. Clearly they didn't want to be disturbed.

Harry was thinking furiously and it was quiet for a few minutes as Hermione let him work through his thoughts. Finally he spoke. "Okay, who had the most to gain?" This was the magical equivalent of follow the money as far as Harry was concerned. "Who can verify the binding of my magic for this contract? What are the rules for the tasks?" Harry was on a roll and kept asking questions that they wanted to get answers to. Finally Hermione had a list of questions on the parchment she had gotten out for just such a reason.

"One other question," Hermione added. "How are you getting away from all of this publicity? I mean half the magical world must be looking where you went, and now trying to disappear will be much harder."

"Well, I noticed no one was smart enough to ask what school I was actually attending. We should start with that. Who do we have as our backers that can sponsor students, and why are we discussing this here. We need to find some place with better security." Hermione nodded and they left the great hall together.

They went to their 'secret lair' to finish their discussion and to be certain that no one was going to listen in. Harry fell back into the comfortable chair with a sigh and looked up at his sweetheart. She had taken a mirror from her book bag and was talking into it while pacing back and forth, bringing the home group up to speed on their terrible day. Her agitation was visible as she snapped questions at the supporting adults and listened to advice and sometimes orders about what to do next. Harry just closed his eyes and started thinking, barely hearing Remus and Sirius arguing in the background with Hermione's father weighing in occasionally. Almost a half hour later Harry suddenly sat bolt upright.

"Stregone," he said aloud. The conversations in the background immediately ceased as Harry came over to the mirror.

"Remus, remember that Italian School you had us visit before Durmstrang? One of the reasons we didn't go there is because their Defence Instructor Ed or something like that had been involved in World War II and was possibly allied in ways we didn't like."

"Yes, we originally thought he was involved with Grindlewald's allies," Remus sounded tense, "but just recently we found out he was on the other side and was heavily involved in Mussolini's defeat and capture."

"I know, but it was the headmaster that I noted," Harry was insistent now. "I remember him, Carmine Giovanni, if he hasn't seen action I will eat my boots."

"But what about them, Harry, do you want to go to school there, you have to stay for the tournament?" Sirius' voice came through sounding worried.

"Oh," Will Granger said with obvious understanding. "You want to have them be your school sponsor for the tournament, since you obviously can't be the champion for any of the other three schools."

"Can we see if they are at least interested? I would also like to put plan B into effect," Harry said firmly.

It was quiet for a long time before Nancy Granger added, "you know what a target that will paint on you, right?"

"There is no chance of me being low profile now, it just isn't possible. We need to take action now, send the letters, Sirius." Harry's voice sounded with more authority than the even the adults at the moment. This didn't sound like a childish whim, they believed he knew the consequences of his actions. Certainly the world would see it, soon.

Fortunately the discussion died down as everyone had their work to do. Harry gave Hermione a quick kiss and she almost ran back to the carriage accommodation, getting there just before curfew.

"Miss Granger?" the Beauxbaton's sergeant of arms looked at her in disapproval. "You are out after hours. I hope you have a really good explanation, or you may have to be confined to the carriage, with proper supervision, of course." His smug look brought out the Gryffindor in Hermione.

"I am in before time, sir." She secretly thought the seventh year boy wanted to have more control over her for reasons she didn't want to dwell on. He had been a constant bother since her second week at the French school. "I was in a family meeting, it was mandatory." She let him think about that for a while. They didn't know which family she had the protection of, but Madam Maxime was quite firm that they not incur its wrath. The boy relented and let her pass without comment and even moved aside to give her more room when she looked at him.

The next morning Harry was in the great hall with Hermione at the Gryffindor as Eloise Midgen joined them, obviously taking sides against her own house. Harry and Hermione were polite, but were in the middle of a discussion and didn't have much time for the quiet girl.

"All right," Hermione said, "but if finding another sponsor doesn't work out you should see about getting other help, maybe reenrolling in Hogwarts. I would really like to see you in class again."

"Oh, I plan to be in class right next to you. But it will take a bit to keep civil with Snape, now that I know what he has done to my family. I mean it is all I can do just to keep from wringing his greasy neck."

"Harry, how did you find out about that?"

"Well, I must admit it is partly down to the exact timing of everything. I mean what are the odds that he is suddenly under Dumbledore's protection when just a week earlier the headmaster put in a request to have him arrested. Then much later he was actually sheltered from prosecution. It is all in the trial records, which were available to the public. I guess we will need to take him on sooner or later."

"Harry, Professor Snape is dangerous. You know what kind of friends he has."

Harry just nodded, thinking hard about all the things that needed to be changed. They began planning the introduction of a new school to the tri-wizard tournament.

That same day, at the Cambridge Dueling club, Remus Lupin stood in the corner of dueling arena watching as two of the best duelists squared off against one another in a grudge match. This was the fourth match he had seen in the last half day and he was finally impressed. The tall blond girl lost the match, barely, but it was her he approached.

"Miss Stewart?"

The young woman looked up at the mousy thirty-something man who approached her with a tentative word. Inwardly she rolled her eyes, just what she needed another stalker. At least this one wasn't drooling.

"That would be me?" she said brightly. Usually this kind was thrown off by her 'not too smart' act. He looked like the intellectual type, probably hoping for a few hours of vapid discussion about the dueling circuit, which wasn't her primary focus in life.

"I am Remus Lupin, and I am hoping you have some time to discuss some of the things I have seen here today. Would you be willing to let me buy you lunch and have a chat after you have had a chance to clean up?" She was surprised with the smoother than average approach. Well, she was ravenous, so she just nodded and went to the changing rooms to shower and freshen up.

They went to a disturbingly out of the way café and she hoped she wouldn't have to put to use her real combat training. The conversation had turned from her initial dueling background and began to go in directions she hadn't anticipated. His next question floored her.

"Have you ever given thought to teaching, Miss Stewart?" he smirked as she stared at him for a moment. Now she wondered whether he was trying for some 'private tutoring' to get close to her. It wouldn't be the first time some guy had wanted her to teach them in a very personal manner.

She looked down at the dark red puddle left in the bottom of his plate from his steak. It had surprised her that he took it so rare. Shaking her head, she looked up at the curiously intense grey eyes. Something deep inside them made her realize that she wasn't looking at just a mild mannered studious gentleman. She placed a hand on his, now intrigued. There was danger lurking in the depths behind those eyes, and it wanted to come out. Suddenly he wasn't so boring. She couldn't stand the pretend warriors she usually saw around the university. Her father was a real war hero and he had taught her from age three to walk in his shoes. Perhaps it was some his Post Traumatic Stress, but it didn't hurt that she knew six martial arts and could handle most weapons at a glance. The father in him could always say it was because he wanted his beautiful daughter not to be forced into anything, but it had probably been more than that. Finally realizing she hadn't been paying attention the last few moments she saw him staring at her hand covering his, a subtle frown on his face. This surprised her almost as much as his next statement.

"I am looking for a few teachers for a couple of prize students. I understand you offer more skills than just a simple duelist. I would like to see if you are interested in a part time position teaching a couple of fourteen and fifteen year old students the fine art of combat." The emphasis on combat immediately got her attention, well that and the fact that he was concentrating on her eyes and face, not the slightly tight t-shirt she was wearing.

"Why would you want a duelist to teach combat?" She definitely knew the difference, but she was unused to people associated with the dueling circuit knowing the difference.

"I was hoping that some of your father's skills would have transferred to you," he smiled a friendly smile.

"Did you know my father?"

"Yes, we fought together in the last bit of unpleasantness."

Something in his statement triggered a memory of a friend he had fought with, but that man was a werewolf. Still, she thought his name was something like Remy or Remus, she couldn't be sure. She would have to call her father tonight.

"I will need some time to think about it. Can we meet again tomorrow? Perhaps we can meet at the Quandry for breakfast. My workouts start at five, so I should be available at seven. I'm afraid my next opening is the 18th. You can buy me breakfast on the veranda." She watched out of the corner of her eye as the man paled slightly, but otherwise gave no indication he understood the significance of the date.

"I may not be available on that day, but I can send a representative," he said carefully. Every werewolf knew the lunar cycles by heart and Remus was no exception. He would be locked in a cage that morning.

She suddenly smirked. "So you're that Remus. My father spoke about you. Any event you are involved in sounds like something I may want to look in to." Remus was surprised, but tried not to react too much. She obviously knew about his 'problem' but was treating him like a friend of the family. He hadn't known her father remembered the fight where they saved each other's lives a few times before having to crawl out of a destroyed building almost under the death eaters' masked faces.

The negotiation was enjoyable and the funds he promised were quite acceptable to the young witch who wanted to spend most of her time training, which didn't allow one much time for a good job to pay expenses.

Back at Hogwarts, lunch became a subject of contention when Harry joined the Ravenclaw table next to Hermione.

"Mr. Potter, you are not a member of Ravenclaw, you should join your Gryffindor table," the fifth year prefect said stuffily. He was a bit miffed that Cho Chang, the other prefect, had shown interest in Harry and it spoiled his plans for romantic prefect patrols.

"Are you trying to expel me from the table?" Harry let a small amount of anger show in his voice. He was still unsettled from everything that was happening and Hermione was his best comfort. He had no intention of letting some new prefect push him away from her.

"Um, I was just saying you should be with your own house," he said with a sneer.

"I don't believe we have been introduced properly," Harry stood with a flourish, ignoring Hermione's calming hand on his arm. Walking over to the student who was a year older, Harry looked slightly up at him and stuck out his hand. "I am Harry Potter, guest at Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard tournament, and unwilling entrant. I am not enrolled in this school or a student here at this time."

"No one believes that, Potter," Malfoy barked from the Slytherin table, standing to get a better view of what he hoped was Potter getting the boot. Viktor Krum stood as well, not liking Harry very much at the time either.

Harry was just about to answer when across the room another voice was heard. "I believe him. Mister Potter has never lied to us." Looking over for the unfamiliar voice everyone was so surprised that they didn't notice the morning mail owls appearing, not even the one that landed on Hermione's arm.

"Miss Midgen, thank you for your support." Harry glanced at Hermione who was reading a quick message with familiar handwriting. Since she was busy he decided to take charge. He looked back at the homely girl with bad acne and his heart went out to her. He knew she was looked down on for her appearance. He thought she was quite pleasant, however.

"Common pizza face, you will have to give more than that to get the great Potter's attention. It looks like he already has Granger." Harry recognized the voice as Seamus' and decided to ignore it for now.

"We are always ready to accept new friends. Would you like to join us in the library after lunch for a study period?" Eloise Midgen was used to people insulting her and picking on her, but she was in Gryffindor for a reason. She remembered how the entire school had turned on Harry in their second year. She was ashamed when she heard about him fighting a monster and saving the popular Ginny Weasley. She vowed to never doubt him again without proof. Sure she had a small crush on him, but a lot of the Gryffindor girls in her year did as well.

"I would love to, thank you," she said after a short pause, then sat down to finish her breakfast, a slow smile spreading across her face at the prospect of making friends. For a short time she forgot that she was an ugly outcast in Gryffindor.

The shy girl quickly ran up to her room and grabbed her books to meet her new friends in the library. Half an hour later Malfoy and his toadies showed up for a bit, but none of the three Gryffindors rose to his baiting and he was eventually chased off by Madam Pince.

The study period was quite pleasant and they were pleased that Eloise, call me Elly, was very studious. She didn't manage to put things together as quickly and sometimes forgot details, but she studied hard and had quite a wry humor. Hermione was quite pleased to have another girl to talk to.

"It is nice to have some girl talk that doesn't just involve trying on various makeups or clothes or even worse, which boys the girls wanted to kiss or were kissing. I mean I am already committed to Harry, but that doesn't mean I am blind. There is just so much more in life other than guys." Hermione sounded slightly exasperated, then realized she may have hurt Harry's feeling somewhat. A glance showed him deep in concentration studying a book about some kinds of blood magic. She shuddered at the thought. She had found that just reading some of those things made for a poor night's sleep, and she left them to Harry. He was so good to her. Staring for just a moment, she was surprised when he absently put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. She felt warmer for it, but wasn't sure why he did it.

"So how long is that essay for charms?" Elly asked.

"Just half a foot," Hermione answered immediately.

"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint the teacher," the girl said hopefully to Hermione. This was the one subject she had trouble with, and Hermione was a near genius in Flitwick's class. Hermione immediately began helping her with the essay, explaining what was required and sometimes explaining what the book really meant. It was easily one of the best day's Eloise Midgen had experienced at Hogwarts. She was pretty sure she was now becoming friends with two of her fellow Gryffindors. Not only that, but they were being very nice to her. She didn't have to do anything but be herself.


	9. Professors, Students, and Schools

"Potter," the confrontation was expected by Harry, he hadn't been cornered by any of the students yet. A storming red haired boy came into the hall, his face nearly matching the flame color. He looked over to see his 'best' friend and his potential girlfriend sitting so close as to be touching. She may or may not be holding his hand at the moment.

He completely dismissed the little tirade he had before Harry simply disappeared over the summer. He had been thinking about inviting Harry over to his house for a week or so, but then they had won that contest and went to Egypt. He hadn't answered any of Hermione's letters because he didn't bother. She would be happy to be his friend when school started and it didn't matter. He knew not to be too obvious or she wouldn't help with his homework, but at least he didn't have to listen to her nagging at on holiday.

Harry's letters were a different thing. His mum wanted him to have Ginny write but he didn't bother asking her. He didn't really want her pushing into their friendship.

Then he they went to Diagon Alley and saw Harry, where he bought ice cream for the family, over many protestations from Molly. She took Harry to the bank and they were gone for a long time before him mum came back fuming. If Ron had expected things to cool down, he was disappointed. In their family if Molly wasn't happy, no one was happy. For the next two weeks the entire Weasley house was in a constant state of near war as she vented her anger on everything from Ginny not eating enough to Ron not paying attention to his chores. The final straw was when they received their marks from school by owl. Ron spent the following day on his hands and knees in the garden getting almost one lecture per hour. His only reprieve came later when his father won a Daily Prophet prize and Molly decided that visiting family was more important than anything else and they went to Egypt.

Ron's current state of mind was a mixture of anger that his friend was here in the school and hadn't even told him, feeling abandoned last year at school where a supposedly mental Sirius Black was trying to chase Harry Potter, and now struggling to make even the academic progress he had the previous year without Hermione to push him to study and answer questions. All of those emotions of feeling abandoned and guilt for not even attempting to write back were adding up and Ron was livid. Here his friend just showed up for glory and riches again, sure to win this tournament and he had been unable to keep from firing a stunning spell he had learned over the summer from Bill as his anger and jealously made its way to the forefront. He had wanted to hurt Harry because he was hurting.

Now though, it was that Harry was sitting next to Hermione who was looking far more like a girl and less like his bookish friend. He saw red as again Harry stinking Potter would get a pretty girl without even trying and Ron had been set aside.

"Yes Ron," Harry said firmly, squeezing Hermione's hand so she knew he wasn't losing control.

"Where have you been? Why did you talk to mother like that? What are you doing with her? Why didn't you at least write? Why didn't you tell me you were entering the tournament? Why are you with her, you could get any girl? What is with the Midgen gint anyway?" Harry sat down at the breakfast table with a look of amusement on his face at Ron's tirade.

"Wow, Hermione, that was a list worthy of your prodigious talents, don't you think?" She chuckled quietly in response.

"Answer me Potter," Ron's face was starting to resemble his hair.

"All right. Out of town. She was trying to control me. She is my girlfriend. I needed to distance myself after your mother slapped me. I didn't. I like her best. She is becoming my friend and stood up for me." Harry smirked as he knew Ron had lost track after the first answer. "Oh, and it is good to see you too, Ron. Is our friendship at an end? I suppose you calling me Potter the same way you talk about Malfoy answers that question. Anything else?"

"What gives you the right to slag on my family, Potter?"

Quite a number of other people had entered the hall and Harry was quite aware they had a rather large audience. He was even more aware of the Weasley twins appearance, but they simply watched as their brother tried to bully answers from Harry.

Harry stood slowly and turned to smile at his old friend.

"Let me start again. Hi Ron, I guess you aren't that happy to see me."

He waited for a moment but Ron just glared at him. Shrugging, Harry continued.

"Today, Ron, I am enjoying time spent with the one person who has, since we met, stuck by me and considered me her friend. I am also here under protest that those in authority are trying to force me into a tournament where people quite often die attempting to prove themselves. No amount of money is worth the almost compulsive need to be recognized, another thing I don't particularly want much to do with.

"Now today, you have at least not been insulting or fired curses at my back. I forgive you by the way since I know it was done because you were a bit out of control. Now let me make something clear. I learned last summer that I have the means to live independent of the place I was sent and intended to do so. As I was in the bank, Mrs. Weasley gave the teller my vault key and 'allowed' me to go to my vault. Now it may sound funny to you, but this is my property and your mother isn't my mother. I received two gifts from her and thanked her appropriately for them. But when she tried to force me to give her back the vault key that controls the Potter wealth, I was at first surprised, then incensed. You see, since I have come to learn about the wizarding world after my 11th birthday, I have been force and tricked and talked into over half a dozen life threatening situations. So after I realized I was being 'managed' by someone I took exception to someone saying they need to keep access to my own money away from me, especially since we are not closely enough related for it to count.

"House Potter will not be controlled by any other house, nor will we yield to the manipulations of others attempting to either end the line or take from us what is ours. I have the responsibility to the name of Potter and all that implies. So if you want to continue to make this a family matter, you will need to discuss this with your head of house and ensure you don't commit to a course of action that will lead to difficult circumstances for your family."

Harry scanned the room and realized that every pureblood was listening with rapt attention to what he had just said. With an internal smirk he sat back down thinking, 'message delivered.'

After a pause, a voice broke the awkward silence.

"Oy," said one of the twins.

"Harry," the other added.

"Where have you"

"gotten too for"

"the past year?"

"we missed"

"all those crazy"

"adventures mate."

"And I missed your antics, at least some of them. I am not particularly pleased about some of the pranks that fall well into the bullying category, however," Harry said with a smile.

They looked at each other, but didn't say anything, which told Harry more than he really wanted to know.

"Potter, I am through with you," Ron almost yelled.

"Hey Potter," this sounded like Seamus. "We don't need cheaters in Gryffindor, so just crawl back under your rock."

"Yeah," this sounded like Angelina. Harry finally just shook his head. He knew what was coming and he didn't think it would be pretty. More than a dozen students were now standing near him as he was eating breakfast trying to get him to answer questions.

"Why doesn't he just admit he cheated?" this came from one of the Ravenclaws, Janice, if he remembered right.

"Perhaps we should let him eat his breakfast," Neville said from a seat a few people down from the twins.

"Where have you been Granger? Why did you leave? What…" Since Katie Bell was just getting warmed up, the questions kept coming faster and more becoming personal until Hermione was ready to scream.

"That's enough!" Harry stood again, his eyes flashing. "I have been asked by Hermione's patron to keep her safe. That includes verbal assault, so you can back off now."

"Come on Potter, we're not afraid of you," this came from Draco Malfoy who had decided to reassert his authority over his house; he hadn't liked the looks he saw from some of his peers and lower level students. They were actually listening to Potter. When he began defending Granger, Draco acted.

"Were you listening?" Goyle hissed quietly. His boss was going to get into a lot of trouble if he didn't keep track of the family politics just displayed.

Draco gave him a 'you're stupid' look and Gregory stuffed his next comment. It was hard acting so stupid sometimes.

"Ah, our resident Potter critic," Harry said with an amused tone. "I bet you were really disappointed with my absence last year."

"What, with, what was that, Potter?" Draco sputtered, not able to follow the train of thought.

"I will explain it if you like, Malfoy."

"I don't need you to explain things, idiot."

Harry just turned back to the final piece of bacon he was eating and then sat quietly leaving a confused Draco and an even more confused staff. They had of course heard all the commotion, but didn't even try to interfere. The headmaster had been clear that nothing other than public violence was to be addressed concerning mister Potter without his direct involvement. This made several teachers quite concerned, but they kept silent of the moment.

It was scarcely an hour later, when the Hogwarts gate opened and a distinguished elderly man walked in. He was well over six feet tall and had grey hair but he seemed to walk with the stride of a man many years younger. As he strode up towards the front doors, he pondered how he had come to this unusual circumstance.

_Flashback_

He had been wrapping up some preparations for his graduating class, he took careful measure of his students as he assigned their end of school project. They would be good or he would not sign off on them taking their tests, and they would be required to take a remedial course before testing. That meant they didn't come with his recommendation.

He was in his back office in a secured suite. He had few illusions about what it would take to break his security and thus he was slight off guard when there was a knock at his study door.

"Mr. Cochi?" came a quiet voice.

"Yes," his guard was up and wand out before he could even think.

"I would like to talk to you about a temporary position. My name is Sirius Black."

Thinking about the implications of someone managing to enter his suite without setting off his alarms and also that person being the most publicly sought after criminal in the United Kingdom. Given that person was now quietly trying to offer him a job at his current employer's site was beyond anything he could believe.

"The door isn't locked. Come in." This amount of boldness was either highly stupid or very desperate.

Sirius cautiously opened the door, a smile on his face. He looked better, but still recovering from his time in prison, and he probably always would be.

"Mr. Cochi?" Sirius checked and slowly put away his wand, realizing he wasn't going to be cursed immediately after breaking into the defense instructor's privacy. They shook hands and he motioned the invader to a chair and decided to listen to what this strange man had to say.

"I am representing a family friend who is in dire need of an expert educator in defense and attack," Sirius began. Ed Cochi was surprised at the statement, since the few people who didn't ignore the attack portion of combat training tended to wholly focus on it. In his opinion they were either solely interested in passive defense or they wanted part of revenge. This man had put defense first in his sentence.

"You are still a wanted man in the U.K." Ed always kept up on the latest in law enforcement and someone had put a price on Black's head.

"Yes, well not everything you hear about me is true, but I am a wanted man or I would be taking this assignment myself. Tell me, Professor Cochi, have you ever heard of the Tri-wizard Tournament?"

"Yes, it was a barbaric custom in the late 1700's wasn't it? I seem to remember that it resulted in too many of our best and brightest killed or something like that."

"Yes, well evidently some idiot has decided to continue that tradition and I am helping one of the champions selected, but we are looking for your help. Somehow there was one extra entrant and now there are four school champions in a three champion tournament. People are not happy about it."

"So…" Ed Cochi was not a stupid man. He had noted the concern and was aware that the tournament had been restarted. But he wasn't sure if the man in front of him was actively supporting the student that had 'supposedly' hoodwinked a famous artifact into putting him into the tournament or was representing one of the other champions.

"Well, since there are three schools already being represented, the boy was wondering if there was another school interested in being represented by Harry Potter."

_End Flashback_

"Professor Givanni," Professor Snape was carefully reviewing what he knew about the famous defense instructor. Supposedly he was quite the terror as a youth. He also examined the meticulous uniform, his concealed dagger, and probably backup wand as well, not to mention the obvious poison detection amulet the man was wearing. Ice blue eyes met dark brown and Snape saw amusement there, which confused him slightly.

"Yes, I understand that Headmaster Dumbledore was willing to speak with me about the tournament and we have an appointment."

"Of course, I have been sent to escort you to his office." He received a nod and walked with the local professor to the headmaster's office.

He was surprised when he felt just the slightest bit of legimency against his mind, quickly withdrawn. He ignored it for now. The man knew he was protected, but the reasons for it disturbed him. He was a visiting professor and common courtesy should prevent such an action.

He was not shocked the Albus Dumbledore, having me the man before, but the conversation didn't seem right to him. It was as though everything was being sifted and only a few grains of truth were carefully repacked to be misleading or downright lies where Harry Potter was concerned. He quickly ended the meeting before he got angry.

He saw Harry Potter, having seen the picture in the papers and recognizing him, and called him away from his friends as they stood looking curiously at the visiting stranger. "I would like to meet with Mister Potter as well, for a few minutes." This announcement startled the potions professor, but he didn't show it.

"Mister Potter, I am Ed Cochi. Could I have a moment of your time to discuss some family business?"

Harry had watched the man he believed he was supposed to meet with and found the frank look and firm handshake quite reassuring. He instantly became wary, thinking his feelings may be just being manipulated through spell or something. He fought down the response to challenge the man, partly because he looked quite dangerous even for all his friendliness.

Professor Cochi watched Harry Potter as he walked into the classroom for his discussion. Some silent communication had happened between him and one of the girls he was talking to and he didn't miss the look of concern she gave him. 'These two aren't complete strangers to trouble,' he thought.

Harry stood in a relaxed stance as he turned to silence the door and check for listening charms. Finding none he was about to lock the door when Harry ejected his want into his hand with a practiced flip of his wrist.

"Who did you say sent you, Professor?"

"Padfoot," was the quiet answer. He noticed the boy relax slightly, but he hadn't returned his wand to its holster.

The door opened suddenly and he saw the girl from the hallway glance in, wand in hand, obviously checking to see if her friend was fine.

The boy smiled lightly and shook his head just the barest bit.

"Harry, I will be in greenhouse #3, see you after your meeting." The professor, noticing that the girl had her wand in her hand casually, but it was 'accidently' pointed at the strange visiting instructor while the boy had moved slightly to his left behind him, by far the best strategic position for a crossfire condition if they expected violence. Someone good had been grounding these two in basic tactics and self-preservation in a hostile environment.

Neither student expected the hearty laugh from the older man.

"Well played, kids. You are the redoubtable Miss Granger?" he smiled at her slight discomfort at being recognized so easily.

"Yes," she managed to curtsy without losing her focus or having her wand out of position for best reaction time.

"Would you mind if she stayed for this discussion, Professor Cochi?" Harry said, realizing the man appreciated their caution. It was a tactic they had only discussed in the last few weeks of training with Remus.

Both students relaxed considerably as they sat at empty desks and waited for questions from their prospective defense teacher. The questions came fast and furious and it was only at the end when he got out the legal paperwork required before they were totally comfortable.

At transfiguration that afternoon, Professor McGonagall looked up carefully over her students, noticing that Harry was struggling with the spell and not managing the wand movements correctly, even with Miss Granger's help. His movements looked awkward. Just as she was ready to see what the trouble was, he managed to get most of the transformation and she went back to the rest of her class, he was almost caught up and would undoubtedly do so. For some reason his motions had bothered her, but she couldn't understand it. A few hours later the same professor was reading through her seventh years' essays when her head jerked up almost to attention. There wasn't as much change in her very upright posture, however, as in most people when they changed from a comfortable position to bolt upright. Had you been passing you would have heard, "it was his left hand," exclaimed almost as an indictment of guilt from the stern professor's office.

"Harry, are you sure we shouldn't just be heading for another country about now?" this came from Hermione who was quite comfortable to be sitting right next to Harry in the library. Eloise was almost sweating she was studying so hard, trying to catch up with her former Gryffindor friends.

"I am not running from this, Hermione." He didn't sound as exasperated as either girl had expected him to be from the question. "Besides, there are some good people here that need to be able to defend

themselves and no one else is doing anything about it." His girlfriend just shook her head. Harry would usually try to help people, even people he didn't particularly like.

Harry looked fondly at his best friend. He noticed slight worry lines in her forehead as she realized he was putting himself in more danger by being here among his enemies. He thought it was immeasurably cute and his smile must have reflected his thought because she looked slightly shy for a moment. It was the soft voice that caught them off guard.

"Are you researching the fire-proofing knickers charm? I heard it was quite difficult to do and still be able to sit on a broom without undue chafing." Harry turned toward the voice to see the most unusual sky blue eyes he had ever seen. He thought me may have seen this girl at the sorting feast his second year, but wasn't sure. He had no idea who she was.

"Um, no, not really. Have we met?" he said carefully, looking at the second or third year girl. She appeared to be barefoot.

"No." she said simply, still not introducing herself. Harry looked toward Hermione and saw a brief look of concentration on the girl's face as she tried to figure this girl out. Eloise's expression showed no comprehension either, so Harry turned back to the odd girl with the bottle cap necklace.

"May I have your name?" he asked politely.

"You could, but you do not look like a Luna to me, but I think in a few years you could be a Lovegood if you wanted to. Why?" Her childlike voice made some sort of connection to Harry as he listened without quite getting all the words. He very carefully listened at the door of her mind with Legimency and felt a calm serenity he had never seen in a mind before. If he was reading her correctly she was possibly the gentlest soul he had met. She had some fairly sophisticated Occlumency barriers, he noticed.

"Well, I think I would find it acceptable to keep my own name, but Luna Lovegood is a very nice name, Luna. These are my friends Hermione Granger and Eloise Midgen." He was about to invite her to study with him, but he wasn't sure what her loyalties were. Even a stray comment could be dangerous if him being forced into this tournament was about getting him killed.

He stared back at her interesting eyes when she suddenly dropped her entire Occlumency shields. For someone as trained as they were this was the equivalent of dropping all your clothes to the floor. "You may look, I mean you no ill intent, Kendall or Harry, whichever you prefer." Just like a beautiful woman appearing in similar attire, Harry didn't manage to quite stop from looking at the fascinating mind of Luna. Here was a hurting girl/young woman, who ignored her peers' childish hazing. There was something odd in her makeup, though. He was pretty sure she wasn't entirely sane. Hermione was able to see a bit of what Harry was doing and blanched at the girl's trust. He could have totally owned Luna's mind if he wanted to and the thought made her shiver slightly.

Luna stood there for a second as Harry's mind processed what he had just seen.

"Luna, you are now our friend." Harry said. His voice had a note of finality to it and Eloise cringed slightly even though that power wasn't leveled against her. She also blushed deeply for almost a minute afterwards, but said nothing about the reason for that.

Luna's smile would have lit the entire Great Hall at night as she saw not just Harry's friendship, but Hermione and Eloise acknowledge his flat pronouncement. She now had three friends.

Having a better understanding of Luna that possibly anyone else, Harry turned to her, "Luna, what made you ask the question about a fire-proofing charm?" He avoided the mention about knickers, after all he was a teenage boy sitting with three girls and he had very little experience.

"Oh, I smelled the phosphorus when I was feeding the thestrals. I assumed they were here for the first task. Would you mind if I take this book?" They all shook their heads and watched as she checked out a book on international customs and almost skipped out of the library.

They sat there for a moment, still trying to figure out the mystery of Luna.

"Harry?" Hermione looked at him suddenly realizing what Luna had been indicating about smelling phosphorus, which probably meant dragons. After seeing his face, she knew he got it too. He was alternating between pale and angry. It was time to leave the library before Harry the Basilisk Slayer made an appearance among the stacks.

Harry went down to the Chamber of Secrets and asked the girls to let him work out his temper alone. He had found a heavy duty ward that absorbed any of the normal spells he threw at it and he used this as a target when he needed to practice. Harry threw a few hard blasting curses at the ward before he switched to his off hand and threw a dozen more. The room started heating slightly and he wiped the sweat from his face, setting his glasses on the stone bench next to him and continued his workout. He started again by running to the other end of the chamber then sprinting back and casting at the ward as he ran past, testing for accuracy, speed, and power while on the move. He kept this drill and many others up for over an hour before he went back to the small wizard tent he was using as a home base. Harry was feeling much more relaxed after his workout and long shower.

Hermione and her new friends were in the library researching dragons when Viktor came back to try his luck again.

"Hermy miny, I vant to ask some-ting." Not wanting to be completely rude, she at least looked at him.

"Yes, Mister Krum?"

"I vas vonde… I vould like us to be study together, no?" his face was set in a stubborn line.

"Mister Krum, you perhaps have figured out that I am not interested. I have told you before that I do not intend to socialize with you. Please respect that."

"I just vanted to study. You like learning. How ist dat not good? I am seventh year. You can keep the little girls vith you."

"I already have a boyfriend. I do not believe he will be very happy if I decided to study with you after several attempts to ask me out."

"But I am a Champion. I am one of de best flyer's in the vorld. I am…"

"Rather an idiot," Luna's voice cut across his. "You wouldn't last ten minutes against her man in a fight, Viktor. If you bother her too much you may just find out." With an almost girly huff, Viktor left the library, not seeing the dark frown on Hermione's face. She definitely didn't want Harry to get involved in this little issue, fearing that Luna was quite right. Harry was very protective of her.

As Harry was walking toward the Great Hall, Hedwig swooped down the corridor after had and caught his attention. He caught the small object she had in her claws and then flew off again. It was a stick on badge that read "Support Diggory, the real Hogwarts Champion." After looking at it for a second, he touched the bump on the side and it cycled to "Potter Stinks."

Harry decided to think about it for a second and turned away from the hall toward the library. Just as he rounded a corner he bumped into a small Slytherin, first or second year girl. She had tear streaks down her pretty face and her lower lip was just shy of jutting out in what was obviously a pout. She didn't even look up but just pulled back. He just heard her muttering something about 'Draco' before she almost hurried in the opposite direction.

After finishing his brief walk to calm down, Harry decided he didn't care what people thought or who wore the badges, as long as his few real friends didn't support such drivel. He had an idea the headmaster was planning to use it for his own purposes, probably to scold him for getting upset at something someone said. He decided to stop by and get something out of his trunk before he went to dinner. He was unsurprised at the loud laughter in the great hall as he entered. He saw Hermione's supporting face as soon as he entered the hall, sitting next to Luna, who was looking more dreamy than normal. Eloise was having an argument with someone at the Gryffindor table, presumably about the badges since he heard his name.

Looking up at the staff table, he could see that McGonagall was frustrated, but Snape looked happier than Harry had ever seen him. Everyone paused for a moment as Harry watched for a moment with no particular expression on his face.

"Like the badges scarhead?" Draco's voice was easily discernible.

Harry looked at him with a curious expression for a long moment and everyone quieted down to hear what the volatile ex-Gryffindor would say.

"How much?"

"What? Oh don't worry, we made plenty. Even most of the Gryffindor got one." This brought Harry's attention back to his ex-house. Indeed there were only a few Gryffindor's who did not have the badge, Neville among them.

Harry was shaking his head. "How much are you charging? I bet the Ravenclaws who are doing the work would have made a lot more money doing it themselves. Still, it was a good business move." Harry chuckled to himself as he saw a couple older year Ravenclaws turn to glare at Draco. Harry then turned his attention to the staff table, noticing that Flitwick was also looked quite distressed. All three headmasters were there, so Harry decided this would be the right time to make his next move. He slowly walked up to the head table in front of Dumbledore.

"What do you want, Potter?" Professor Snape barked.

Harry looked calmly at him with an almost curious expression, but didn't reply.

"Before I say anything, Professor Dumbledore, do you have anything to add to the current discussion or actions of your students?" Albus stared at him with that grandfather knows best look for a moment as Harry was doing something with his hands and the badge.

"What would you have me do, Harry?"

"Oh, I already knew what you were going to do, Headmaster, and it certainly involved teaching." Harry stepped up on the dais the head table was on and quickly reached over to stick the badge in his hand on the headmaster's shoulder. He held his hand there for a second before letting go, displaying the badge for all to see. Harry had charmed it to light up, and now the headmaster wore a bright green badge that glowing reporting "Harry Stinks."

"Harry, my boy, that isn't what I think of you."

"You have made your opinion known through your actions, Headmaster." He watched with amusement as the Headmaster tried to remove the badge with magic, not knowing anything about the industrial glue Harry had used on the back and dried, fusing it to the headmaster's robe while he held it on his shoulder for a moment. It was just a simple spell, but quite useful and he could to it without his wand. "Every attempt to belittle or attack me or my friends has been met with defense of those doing the attacking. I just thought I would label it so everyone could see it clearly."

"Potter, stop this. Get that thing off or you will be expelled," Snape snarled.

Harry turned and smiled as he looked up and down the head table. "From what school did you plan to expel me? There isn't a person at this table that has the right to expel me, certainly not you, Professor Snape."

"Harry," at his slight frown Professor McGonagall corrected herself. "Mister Potter, what school are you enrolled in?" Harry's smile was beautific and brought back memories of James Potter in the execution of an excellent prank or a particularly successful quidditch play.

There was a long pause before the doors to the great hall opened and a dozen people were seen standing just outside the door. In the front was a neatly dressed white haired man who was perhaps average in height for a third year, but had strong shoulders. His skin was a bit darker than the average Caucasian and he was flanked by a large Germanic looking man who exuded confidence. Behind them was a quite pretty blond woman in fine dueling robes standing alone and trailing behind were a dozen sixth and seventh year students dressed in spotless dark green uniforms.

The tall man cleared his throat. "Mister Potter, it is good to see you again. I trust we are not too late for dessert. We can't have our champion going hungry, can we?"


End file.
